Posted : January 25, 2022
Our blog is chock full of great ideas for fun things to see and do in York Durham and Headwaters. We are always adding new content and updating old posts, but sometimes you might stumble upon something from our vault. If this article has inspired you to hit the road, be sure to double-check that the featured stops in this post are still welcoming visitors.
Oh, hello. Hiya! My name is Gryphon, and I am one of the newest alpaca babies here at Forget-Me-Not Alpacas.
Our farm is wonderful, surrounded by forest and with wide open pastures. We all love it here. I’m not sure exactly where our farm is—I’m an alpaca, after all, and a baby at that. But I think I heard someone say the word Beaverton once… Ah well. It doesn’t matter where we are. I’m a happy boy on a happy farm. Our farmers, Geoff and Sandra Bannon, look after us so well, and people come from far and wide to meet us. They get their pictures taken, and they like to buy the neat things that our fleece gets made into. Luckily, we’ve got lots of it to spare, so we don’t mind sharing. I love growing up here, and I can’t wait to get big like the others.
But I didn’t come here to talk about me, as much as I would like to (because hey, I’m pretty darn cute!). I’m actually here to tell you about my big sister, Ginger. She’s too modest to do it herself, and to be honest, I don’t think she even knows how special she is. But we all do, and I know that you’re going to think so, too.
First things first: Ginger is pretty. I mean, real pretty! So pretty, in fact, that she is the reason I was born. You see, sometimes alpaca moms and alpaca dads just click—that’s what Farmer Sandra says. When that happens, all the best stuff about them come out in their babies. Well, my mom Gypsy and my dad Shayde just clicked, and Ginger (my lucky big sis) got the best bits of both of them. When they saw her, Farmer Geoff and Farmer Sandra simply had to try again, and that’s how I came along. Farmer Sandra says my mom, Gypsy, is lovely and sweet, and that Ginger takes after her. Me, well I’m a silly, lovable boy just like my dad, Shayde.
This year, there is something called covid going on in the world. I don’t really know what that is, but it’s the reason our farmers can’t take us to alpaca shows—they’ve all been cancelled to keep us safe and healthy. But if Farmer Geoff and Farmer Sandra had been able to go to one, they would have brought Ginger. She is everything the judges are looking for, wrapped up in one soft, adorable package. Her legs are beautiful and straight, she has the perfect bite, and her fleece is gorgeous and soft. Oh, she’s so lovely! Now, my fleece is a colour called ‘classic grey,’ and hers is called ‘rose grey.” So, we didn’t come out exactly alike, even though we have the same Mom and Dad. And what’s really neat is that Mom’s fleece is black! It’s funny how that works, huh?
Ginger is really beautiful on the inside, too. She is a sweet, gentle soul who will melt your heart. Because she is so sweet, this year she got to come out and do something called a photo shoot. How cool is that?! I mean, I don’t know what that is, but it sounds like a lot of fun, because she gets to meet people who come to smile and be happy around her. Farmer Sandra says she’s… I think the word she used is “foto-jennick?” I don’t know what that means, either (I think it’s something to do with getting head rubs), but Farmer Sandra said Ginger looked beautiful in all her pictures, too. Usually, Farmer Geoff and Farmer Sandra use the older alpacas in our family because they’re calmer, but Ginger was so sweet that they gave her a try, and she behaved wonderfully. I’d like to do that, too, someday. For now, though, I have a bit of growing up to do.
When I was born, Ginger had to be separated from Mom so I could get taken care of. When I’m all grown and weaned in a few months, I will go into the boys’ pen, and Ginger can come back to Mom. For now, Ginger is staying with the big girls in their pen. She’s still a little young, and she’s missing Mom right now—especially with all the older girls jostling around in there, bumping each other for food at meal times. But Farmer Sandra and Farmer Geoff take extra special care of her to make sure she’s happy and paid attention to. At feeding time, they will take her aside on her own and give her some pellets for herself so that she doesn’t have to get in there with the other hungry alpaca ladies. She gets to go on walks around the farm so she can practice on her halter. And when she gets to do the photo shoots, she gets sweet-feed—yum, what a treat!
(… Hmmm. Maybe that’s what foto-jennick means. If so, I want to be foto-jennick too, because I loooove sweet-feed! …)
Where was I? Oh, right! I know that she is being taken care of real well while I finish growing up, and I’ll be so happy for Ginger when she can be with Mom again.
So, there you have it, and as we alpacas always say here at Forget-Me-Not (in Alpacish, of course): Alpacas always tell the truth, because we’re too sweet to tell a lie! To see for yourself, you should come to our farm and book your very own photo shoot where you get to smile and be happy around Ginger, too. I know you’ll love her as much as I do, and that you’ll want to come back real soon.
Bye for now,
Gryphon
Visit the Bannons and their sweet alpacas at 1595 Concession 3 in Beaverton. For information, go to www.forgetmenotalpacas.ca, or call (289) 221-6102.
(Translated from Alpacish by Katherine Ryalen)
