Hello, I’m Donna Parkman. My husband and I live on a 20 acre farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and own a llama trekking business, Twin Creeks Llamas. When we bought our property in 1998 we thought it would be nice to raise some sort of livestock to make the most of the pasture. We toyed with different ideas. As I had been a city girl and an animal lover all of my life, I could not deal with the idea of raising and caring for any animal that was going to end up being on the dinner table. After doing preliminary research on various animals, it was the llamas that caught our attention. We were intrigued by their calm demeanor and stately presence, not to mention those dreamy eyes and cute wooly faces. Then I read an article in a magazine about a business that was offering hikes in the mountains with llamas packing in a picnic lunch. As a surprise for my husband’s 50th birthday, I planned a trip to do a llama trek in NC with several friends. The big light bulb came on. Here we are in the Blue Ridge Mountains with the magnificent Shenandoah River running nearby. We love to hike and we enjoy meeting people that share our interests. Why couldn’t we do the same thing? So the process began. We visited many llama farms in our area, read all the books we could get our hands on, went to llama shows and conferences, all while having a barn built and fencing installed to accommodate our new llamas when we brought them home. Our first three llamas were delivered in November 2001 and our lives have been fuller and richer ever since.
We have a small menagerie of animals: 2 bearded collies, 2 cats, 8 llamas, chickens, and a couple of peacocks. We have an assortment of wildlife that call our little piece of heaven their home. Sometimes, we welcome them, and sometimes, not so much. In addition to our llama treks, I enjoy making a few llama related crafts that I sell in our tack room gift shop and my Etsy shop online.
I hope you enjoy reading my little musings about the happenings around the farm.
What a great story about your llama adventure! I love the photo at the top of your blog, too…beautiful!
Please consider yourself nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award!
This is because you are awesome, and I think your blog is too. Thank you for sharing your experiences and advice.
Please find my nomination here: http://katiepede.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/the-versatile-blogger-award-oh-la-la/
and then pass on the honour…
They have some rules, and then also add your link to here: http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/vba-winners/
Much love
Kate x
Thanks so much, Kate. I really appreciate your nomination, but I was nominated by someone else back in April. I like your blog a lot and you have a well deserved nomination. Congratulations.
Donna
Hello Donna!:) Reading your posts made my day! I love bearded collies ever since I worked in a grooming shop and had the pleasure of being around them! Unfortunately I have had a heck of a time doing the “puppy search”. There’s so many things to consider and many unreputable breeders as I’m sure you know all to well! I’m wondering if you could give me some advice or point me in the right direction of a good breeder or where your dogs came from? Please message me through facebook if you get a chance or i can send you my email. Thanks so much!
Amanda