What do you want out of life?

What do you want from life?  Many people struggle with this question.  Do you want to lead a happier and more meaningful life?  To have clarity of mind?  To feel closer to your real self?  To stop worrying about life and just live it?   Owning alpacas is a way of life,  a lifestyle,  a choice to spend your time doing what is important.  Somewhere along the way a lot of us got confused.  We were told and sold on what we thought we wanted, rather than what we really want and need.  We were told to ask "Where do you want to go today," rather than "What are you doing for the rest of your life?"

Summerbrook Shasha and Duffy

Random House defines aspiration as: • strong desire, longing, or aim; ambition: intellectual aspirations • a goal or objective desired.   It became increasingly clear that I wanted my life to be about making a difference in the quality of my family's life as measured by the qualities of loving and caring.   I did not want to look back in time and see only work.
Do you?


Consider building an alpaca lifestyle for yourself - where you will have a happier and meaningful life.  You learn something new every day about nature and our world.  You learn how intelligent alpacas are and how "humane" they are.  You will get in touch with how precious life is.  You will make wonderful friends - human and animal.  You will definitely get in touch with what is important in life. 


One day, a friend of mine came to visit and sat on a chair in the barn while I did chores. Honey Crystal went right over to her,   nosing her, and   blowing softly in her face.  Honey would not leave my friend's side.  Honey knew that my friend was sad and filled with worries. My friend was amazed at how much Honey Crystal empathized with her and tried to make her feel better.  She has never forgotten that experience.

Honey Crystal and Summerbrook Mateo

Keep your job but get a life. Visit an alpaca farm near you and fall in love.

Winning Iraqi Hearts and Minds – One Camel Rescue at a Time By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT

I recently came across an interesting article by Michael Schmidt about American soldiers saving camels in Iraq. During the last days that the American troops were in Iraq, they spent their time "applying the gentler forms of military power". One group of American soldiers in the southern part of Iraq came across an Iraqi man trying to save his camel from the mud. 

"Sergeant Thomas, who was on his fifth deployment to Iraq since 2003, added: 'I felt that we won over the camel for the Americans. There is one less insurgent camel out there. It was the right thing to do. Camels are worth a whole lot of money, and the herdsman would have been in a whole world of hurt if he’d lost it'.”

Bactrian Camel

This one of my favorite pictures - a Mongolian girl and her camel laughing together. Her camel is a Bactrian camel. The Bactrian camel has 2 humps while the Dromedary has one hump. The Bactrian camel lives in Turkey, Mongolia, China, Russia, Iran and Afghanistan. The Bactrian camel is thought to have been domesticated (independently of the dromedary) sometime before 2500 BC probably in northern Iran, Northeast Afghanistan or southwestern Turkestan. 

In October 2002, the estimated 800 remaining in the wild in northwest China and Mongolia were classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is presently restricted in the wild to remote regions of the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts of Mongolia and Xinjiang. A small number of wild Bactrian camels still roam the Mangystau Province of southwest Kazakhstan.

As of the 1980s, a complete range of fossils suggests the first camelids appeared in North America about 30 million years ago, had a relatively small body mass and were adapted to warm climates. By the early Pleistocene (about 2 million years ago), they had already evolved into a form similar to the current Bactrian camel, and many individuals permanently migrated to the opposite end of the Bering Strait in an abrupt fashion, probably as a response to the advancing ice age. The remaining related types of American camelids are now only in South America. These include the Alpaca, Vicuna, LLama, and Guanaco.

Pure camel hair, frequently used for coats, is gathered when camels molt in warmer seasons. This undercoat is very soft, and is separated from the dense, coarse guard hair for cloth use.

Pictures to Share

Mike teaching in Chongquin

                                                      Our beautiful "little" Christmas tree.

Family and Christmas

The Christmas Holiday always makes me think of family. I really envy my sister, Chris, because all 4 of her children and all 5 of her grandchildren could be with her this Christmas. This is such a precious thing and special time. I would have loved to be there but got to see them all through Facetime - Ipad to Ipad. I carried mine around to show them my tree, my husband Len, son Matt, daughter-in-law Gwen, and our collective pets.  They carried my nephew, Dan's, Ipad person to person so we could talk to everyone.  What fun!  Everyone looked so great and I wished I could give them hugs all around.

Matt and Gwen were the only ones who could come to our house this year.  But what fun we had! They made Christmas dinner as a special treat for us.  Matt did the barn chores - morning and night - every day to give his dad a break. My husband Len gave us all a scare with chest pains that luckily turned out to be "spasms of the carteroid coronary artery" and NOT a heart attack (thank goodness, Thank You Jesus!).  He was at Yale-New Haven Hospital only one night and we got to bring him home Christmas Eve. We then launched into fun. We opened presents, watched movies, watched football (of course), and ate some great dishes prepared by Gwen. Her recipes are awesome.

Gwen and Matt are wedding photographers and took some engagement photos for a wonderful couple who lives nearby us. They came over to see our alpacas and had a great time.  Matt and Gwen couldn't stay for New Year's because they are photographing a wedding New Year's Eve (http://www.gwendolyntundermann.com/)

Our youngest, Michael, is in Chongquin, China, teaching English.  We connected with him on Skype - sound and picture was clear although he is 7500 miles away!  It was so great to see and talk to him after almost a whole year.  We met his sweetheart, Kathy, on Skype, which was also great fun.  She is adorable and speaks good English.  She doesn't think so, but when she just talks English without thinking about it, she sounds great.  Mike showed us around his apartment in China. He has a cute little lighted Christmas tree.  Mike told us about a very funny tradition in China. On Christmas Eve, everyone goes around town hitting people with inflated plastic hammers!!

Our oldest son, Sam, talked to us on the phone.  He has a terrible cold, so his wife, Virose, and our granddaughter, Samantha, had to go to church without him. He keeps asking us to move to Georgia to be near him and because the cost of living is so much lower than Connecticut. I (Bobbie) am retiring now, but Len still has at least 2 more years.  In a few years we will be able to move closer to family, hopefully to a bigger farm.

All in all, Summer Brook Valley Farm had a wonderful Christmas.  I forgot to go to the barn at midnight on Christmas Eve to hear the animals talk.  Oh well...Maybe next year.  I think back on Christmases past, including the wonderful ones I had as a child, and the wonderful ones when our children were little and my mother was still alive. I miss my mother and grandmother so much at this time of year.  I know that Len misses his folks too.  We talked to his 3 brothers - 2 by phone and 1 on Skype.  The funny thing was that the pictures were clearer coming from China than from Toronto, Canada where Robert lives.  We all are praying for Kathleen who was seriously hurt falling down the stairs at home.  David is at her bedside at the hospital each day (in Utah).  We rejoice at the news that Steve is in remission! Our family like all families had our ups and downs this past year. We are a loving family and have great hopes and dreams for 2012.  We hope that All Your Dreams come True for the New Year. Remember to Love, Laugh, Share, and Forgive.  Happy New Year from Summer Brook Valley Farm.

Our Westie to the Rescue - Again

In October, 2010, I wrote about how our West Highland terrier, Jack saved the day by herding alpacas who had gotten loose back into the barn.  Well, this past Saturday, our largest llama, Gumby, opened a gate and let himself and several male alpacas out.  It was a real circus trying to round up the animals because they all decided to go in different directions.  Little by little we were able to get the alpacas back inside the fenced field, but Gumby was a real challenge.  He chased here, there, and everywhere, visiting neighbors' yards twice.  We were ready to give up when Len shouted, "let out Jack!" What a great idea.  I let Jack out immediately and he seemed to know just what to do.  He ran around to the back of the house directly to Gumby.  Try to picture in your mind a 20 pound small dog going up against a 275 pound, six foot llama.  Gumby scared me when he first stomped with his big front foot directly towards Jack.  Jack backed up and then Gumby bent down and nosed Jack.  Jack licked Gumby's nose. From then on, Gumby followed Jack - right down the lane to the barn! Phew. Jack came to the rescue again.

More On Genealogy

I haven't posted in a while because I have been sick on and off.  During this time when I basically could only sit, I have been doing more work on my family tree.  I find it to be a lot of fun.  My grandfather, Burroughs Strickland, was an avid genealogist and I guess I get it from him.

My favorite show on TV is "Who Do You Think Your Are?" and this week's show was about Ashley Judd who found out that one of her great-grandfathers was William Brewster who came to America on the Mayflower. After watching the show, I naturally went to my family tree to work on it and got the shock of my life! I was checking through the Strickland line (my mother was Donna Strickland Rodden, Mayor of Albion, NY for 13 years) and the name Brewster caught my eye.  Jonah Strickland (1714-1798) was married to Patience DeWolf (1722-1806). Patience DeWolf's parents were Matthew DeWolf and Patience BREWSTER.  "Hmmm", I said to myself, excitedly, "Could she be related to the famous William?" So I worked on that branch of the family.

Patience Brewster's parents were William Brewster (1669 - 1728) and Patience Reed. The dates for this William and this Patience were all wrong to be the Mayflower Brewsters because the Mayflower voyage was in 1620, but I was still excited. I went on to find that the 1669 William's parents were Benjamin Brewster (1633-1710 ) and Ann Addis. Ok, still no link to the William in 1620. Benjamin's parents were Jonathan Brewster (1593 - 1650) and Lucretia Oldham. I am thinking now that the Brewster's in my family line is a different branch from Mayflower Brewster.

Undeterred, I keep hunting and found out that Jonathan Brewster's parents were William Brewster (1566-1644) and Mary Wentworth! All kinds of historical records started appearing, including "Signers of the Mayflower Compact", "Genealogies of the Mayflower families", and "The Mayflower Reader Record". Sure enough, William Brewster who came to America on the Mayflower is my 10th great grandfather.  I was really shocked. I had just learned all about him on TV and I share him as an ancester with the actress, Ashley Judd! Jonathan did not come over with his father but joined the family in November 1621, arriving at Plymouth on the ship Fortune.

I had heard from my grandfather that a family member came over on the Mayflower, and now I know it is true. So a message to my sister - Your 10th great grandfather came over on the Mayflower. A note to my sons, nieces, and nephews - Your 11th great grandfather came over on the Mayflower. Phew, what an exciting day. If you missed this week's "Who do you think you" episode, go to Hulu and you can see it there for free.
Pictures: Elder William Brewster, Younger William Brewster, painting of the Mayflower