Well, I am now the very proud owner of four beautiful female alpacas. Their names are Nicola, Emilia, Champagne and Diana. Two are huacayas (the teddy bear kind) and two are suri (the dreadlock-haired kind). They arrived almost three weeks ago and have already changed my life in the best way!

The three white ones are all pregnant and their cria (baby alpacas) will arrive from the end of August onwards so I am in for a busy autumn.

I have wanted alpacas since reading an article about them in a UK magazine and although our first house in Umbria wasn’t big enough to accommodate them, the land we have now is just about Ok, so has all been fenced and a three sided shelter added.

I have got a new website for this venture so check it out: www.lavignaalpacas.com