Every year, just like the change of seasons, the cycle of the alpaca world continues. Right now, the alpacas fleeces are looking amazing. We find it very gratifying to open the fleece and see the beautiful bright crimpy bundles we love. Sometimes we even find some wonderful surprises when we look at some of the younger ones. I actually looked at Captain Midnight a few days ago and was quite impressed with the structure and density that is still very evident at age 10+. Today I've been checking off my list of show essentials as we prepare for the triple show in Harrisburg. It's always exciting to show our fellow breeders what we have created and to see their newest additions as well. It's great to network and catch-up with long time friends and make some new ones too. We'll all be excited to see the newest herdsire prospects in the ring and to contemplate our breedings for the year. It won't be long until we'll be shearing, harvesting and preparing fleeces for processing and shows. I don't really like the shearing process as it means soooooo much work. However, it IS very rewarding to see what our herd has produced. I know the alpacas are always ready to get those fleeces off and be more comfortable for the summer. Some of them look so incredibly different. Particularly those fall crias who were not shorn and their color will be totally different once that first fleece is gone. I want to try to get some before and after photos to show the huge contrast. It's often mind-blowing how different they look. Cria season is upon us too!!!! Actually, last year we sold our beautiful black male, 5C's Captain Booker, to Alpakas vom Speigel in Switzerland. We had intended to use him fairly extensively last summer, but alas he was due to leave by June first. We normally don't begin breeding until after shearing in May, but we wanted to be sure to use Captain Booker before he departed for quarantine. We pulled all our open black females who were unrelated to Booker and bred them before he left. Thus some April crias will arrive at Cinco C's Alpacas and we can't wait to welcome them.