Greetings from Cascade Rose Alpacas

My Saturday started slowly with some chores and football, then we had lunch and went out -- first to Molbak's Garden and Home to look for a couple of Christmas presents, then to Redmond Town Center for the start of Pokemon Community Day, with a stop at Target for both necessities (kitty litter) and frivolity (holiday food 30% off). We saw a glorious sunset from the parking lot, and in the evening, because it is the season and we were just in that kind of a mood, we watched Spirited, the Ryan Reynolds-Will Ferrell adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which starts as a kind of fun musical with songs by Pasek and Paul (some of which sound like direct ripoffs of their songs for The Greatest Showman) and gets in some good snark about other adaptations of Dickens, but then gets bogged down in seriousness, which makes the ending irritating. 

But by far the highlight of the day was a visit to Cascade Rose Farm, apparently the largest alpaca farm in the area though we didn't know that till we arrived! The farm has over 60 alpacas, including several babies, as well as a few guard dogs, and the farm store (decorated for the season, offering both products made from Cascade Rose alpaca wool and imported scarves, hats, toys, and blankets) sells bags of alpaca food. So we got to meet a lot of alpacas up close, and I got my hand licked and nibbled by so many of them! The farm was in the midst of "Fleece Navidad" -- an event to raise money for a local food bank with hot chocolate, cider, cookies, and photos with alpacas dressed as reindeer -- so we also got food after much washing of hands from being licked by alpacas, and we got to pose with a reindeer alpaca named Charlie!