Welcome everyone to our first Slowhayes Alpacas Newsletter, I thought it would be good to introduce myself to those that don't know me and to those that do, a little bit more about me and some of the animals on the farm and what we do here, and whats been happening, and whats coming up. I'm Linda Broomfield and from as far back as I can remember I always wanted to be around animals and to care for them, I had always dreamt of living on a farm and I used to bore people going on and on about it, I often wondered why many people had that glazed look after listening to me for hours. I am a great believer in visualising what you want in life and I am so very grateful to be living the life I do now here on the farm that we rent. I live with my partner Dave who is a musician (lead guitar ) and a graphic designer (books are his speciality) as well as my dogs, horses, sheep, alpacas, giant rabbit and chickens. They all have their cheeky personalities (even Dave) and I will tell you more about them individually in future newsletters. With having so many animals a lot of time, effort and care is needed to ensure they are happy and living the best life. We have volunteers who help out on the farm for which I am very grateful for. I am always looking for additional help so if you think you would like to help out on a regualar basis, do get in touch. Its so nice to be around animals and nature so if you have some spare this could be for you.
As well as spending much of my time looking after the animals, I am a Reiki Master and offer Reiki to animals, this is using energy healing and can be offered to people and animals. It's gentle and relaxing and can help them to feel more relaxed and help them to heal themselves.
Please get in touch if you would like any Reiki healing for your pet or horse.
For many years now I have been studying Applied Zoopharmacognosy (offering animals plant extracts to help them select what they need to help heal themselves) Animals have the inate ability to heal themselves given the right enviroment. In the wild, animals can select the plants they need when they need it. Animals as pets or zoo/farm animals do not have access to the plants and enviroment that they need to keep themselves healthy. I am so excited to be doing this and I will talk more about this in future newsletters.
Back to the farm and here at Slowhayes Alpacas we have a lovely herd of alpacas, we keep them firstly because we love them, but also because they grow a long fleece. For welfare reasons they do need to be sheared which is done once a year. If we didn't shear them, their coat would grow and grow and become matted, they would be very uncomfortable in the hot weather. Once they have been sheared, we send the fleece off to be processed into yarn and then knitted into various items such as scarves and hats, we also have some rugs weaved and we sell duvets filled with alpaca fleece too, you can see the items we make and sell on our onine shop. Online Shop | Slowhayes Alpacas
We breed suri alpacas and were delighted with the safe arrival of 3 gorgeous crias this summer, 2 girls and a boy, we have named them Dennis, Isabella and Jasmine, we are so pleased with them and have spent many evenings watching them running and chasing each other around the field. Its really good for them to have play mates of their own age as this helps their muscles to develop with all the running and playing.
We are located in the New Forest so a great place to visit, and living in such a lovely peaceful place, its the perfect opportunity to come and visit us too. We offer afternoon teas with the alpacas, alpaca walks and meet and greets. We are small and personal and is the perfect to unwind, learn more about alpacas and be surrounded by nature too. If you are Vegan then we can do a Vegan afternon tea so why not book up and taste the delicious cakes for yourself.
So whats coming up, well I am very excited that Jen from Newforest Nature and Nurture will be holding an Animal healing workshop here on the 22nd October, I am really looking forward to sharing some healing space with a small group of people and my horses and dogs. This will be a lovely day for anyone wishing to learn more or enjoy some healing time for themselves just being around animals and nature. More information can be found here Animal healing workshop | nature and nurture (newforestnatureandnurture.com)
Autumn is almost here and with the dewy mornings and darker evenings, its time to get the log burner going and wrap up warm. Although we don't offer the alpaca walks in the autumn, we do offer the afternoon teas in our cabin all year round, as well as our meet and greets. So get those wellies on, wrap up warm, and come and see us for a meet and greet or cosy up in front of the log burner and enjoy an afternoon tea in our cosy cabin. In December we will be doing Mince Pies with the alpacas, this can also be booked online.
Don't forget you can buy vouchers for that perfect gift (they are valid for one year from date of purchase so they will make great presents for christmas or any special occasion.
Its time to breathe a little and enjoy the cooler weather and the lovely colour that autumn brings. Being outside in nature is healing and if you can find time please take some time out for yourself, enjoy nature, go on a walk, come and visit us but please take care of yourself and I look forward to writing the next update for you.
Linda
