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

              

Fiber Animals

All alpaca farms have fiber animals or animals that are not used in the breeding program. They are sold are very low cost in comparison to the breeding and show animals.  These animals are valuable because of their soft fiber that can be used by their owners in a variety of hobbies  - spinning, knitting, weaving, and felting. They are a source of rich manure for compost, gardening, and agricultural purposes. 

Some people entering the alpaca business world for the first time are buying only fiber animals! Why? Because they want to harvest soft beautiful fiber and sell that.  They are not interested in breeding and delivering babies. They are able to start their farms with relatively low cost because the alpacas are not expensive and the animals they want to buy are relatively easy to fine in their local area. They are able to build up a large herd quickly and have lots of fiber to sell. When a fiber boy is gelded, his fleece becomes remarkably softer because there are no longer hormones in his system that make fiber coarser.  Of course, in the alpaca world, their fiber was already very soft before they were gelded.  It just gets softer. 

Alpacas are a hearty livestock and generally need much fewer vet visits than other livestock.  They have a longer lifespan than other livestock - 20 - 25 years.  Most importantly, they are "green" in that they are gentle on the earth and provide many (22 distinctive) colors that are all natural.

Examples of fiber boys are ones we have here at Summer Brook Valley Farm. They are beautiful animals, plus they all have gentle, loving natures.



SUMMER BROOK MATTEO – Medium Fawn

Matteo is a handsome son of Greybeard’s Molokai and grandson of Greybeard. His dame, AAR Honey Crystal is a Kabellero daughter.  Matteo has excellent fiber coverage and a beautiful dense fleece.  His brother is a handsome and proud herdsire on our farm, and Matteo will be one too by next summer. Matteo has a gentle disposition and easy manner. ARI registered.

SUMMER BROOK ESTEVAN – Dark Brown

Estevan is a dark reddish brown with excellent fiber coverage and a dense fleece. He is a Thelonius son and his mother, Summer Brook Arabella, was Reserved Champion at the New England Coastal Classic two years ago. Arabella is an SA Peruvian Normandy daughter and Estevan has inherited the beautiful fiber qualities of his mother and grandfather.  

SUMMER BROOK MIDNIGHT – True Black

Midnight is the shiny true black son of Moore Brook Astarte.  He has a beautiful soft and bright fleece. Midnight is a sweet and friendly alpaca.

EWF BERTO – Burgundy Brown, Gelding 

Berto is a gelded boy whose fleece is very soft and beautiful.  He  is incredibly protective of his herd and is as effective as a  guard llama.



William Tundermann Playing Zither with a Zither Band

I have been spending a lot of time working on our family genealogy of late and found out many interesting things about my family and my husband's family.  It's neat when you join Ancestry.com because they find information and pictures. For example I found this old newspaper article online. It is JULY 1974. Len's dad, William Ernst Tundermann is the 2nd person in the front aisle of zithers. Dad always loved to entertain the family with his zither and get us to sing old songs together. One of his zithers is in the Ellis Island Museum!

Yearling Like to Eat Together

I couldn't resist taking a picture of 4 yearlings eating together.  I fence them off together so that they are not stressed out by competing with the adults who spit at them and push them around in order to hog all the grain. The four of them have to be in exactly the same order each day.