BuiltWithNOF
Harding's Fibers
11-09 goats & alpacas1

Nancy keeps angora and pygora goats and alpacas as fiber animals and pets. She shears them, spins and knits with the fibers to create wonderfully warm sweaters, vests, hats, mittens and socks. During the Indian Lake Country Christmas Tour over Thanksgiving Weekend each year, Nancy sets up a few tables at the restaurant to sell some of her hand spun yarn and hand knitted items.

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Nancy learned to knit by her good friend, Eve in 1989. Nancy and Eve traveled to knitting conventions, took classes, loved to explore the marketplace for different and exotic yarns. Soon the girls developed other fiber interests; Eve pursued weaving and Nancy became interested in spinning her own yarn. Nancy’s first experience with a spinning class turned out badly. Nancy is a quiet person in class and there was one participant who monopolized the teacher. Nancy could not get the hang of drafting and became frustrated, dropping the idea of spinning.

Today Nancy spins mohair on her Majacraft Rose spinning wheel while her cat, Cleo sleeps next to her. Below are skeins of mohair for sale during the Country Christmas Tour.

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Lucy the cat finds a warm place to nap on a mohair fleece while Nancy skirts.

Nancy was always interested in goats and found them to be marvelous creatures. Nancy and Eve visited a cousin of Eve’s and Nancy experienced nubian goats first hand. That was it! Nancy was hooked on goats and 10 years later when she moved from an urban area to Indian Lake, she decided she wanted her own goats.

2000 Buck

Nancy and husband, Walter visited farms, researched different breeds and learned all about goat care. Walter rebuilt half the garage into a stable for the new goats, while Nancy purchased buckets, hoof trimmers and all the equipment needed to care for them. The garage has since turned into all barn!
Nancy decided she wanted fiber goats and would give spinning another try. Nancy chose Angora goats and began searching for farms with animals for sale. Nancy and Walt ended up traveling to a farm in Massachusettes and purchased 3 yearling pet quality Angora goats - 2 does, Sky and Alphie and a wether, Buck. Now Nancy needed to learn to spin!

Buck the wether in 2000.

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Alphie on the left and Sky on the right in the winter of 2000.

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Not the greatest picture, but a self portrait of Nancy with her Buck-man in June of 2009. Buck is 11 years old here and such an old man!  Sadly Buck died on July 14, 2010 at the age of 12.

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 For Christmas that year, Eve gave Nancy a used Ashford Traditional wheel, complete with spinning lessons. An afternoon of one on one lesson gave Nancy the attention she needed and she was off and spinning. Good thing, since she already had 3 bags of mohair waiting to be spun up. After her initial wool project was completed, Nancy converted to mohair and hasn’t stopped yet!

 

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Nancy’s first Ashford spinning wheel with Pearl, who was born in March 2000.

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Nancy so loved her goats, she decided to purchase a stud goat and another doe to increase her herd. Her stud goat, McHugh was a very dominant guy, pushed Buck the wether around and ate everyone’s grain before they could finish. McHugh came down with urinary calculi and was euthanized given his prospects and future quality of life. McHugh did produce 4 beautiful kids though!

McHugh with Sky in the fall of 2000.

Cinnamon was added to the herd at the same time as McHugh. She is snacking on Nancy’s Christmas tree.

Sky gave birth to twins during a snow storm in March of 2000. Nancy named the boy Taz, because he had so much energy, he reminded her of the cartoon character, The Tasmanian Devil. His sister, Pearl, became a bottle baby due to Nancy’s inexperience with new borns and mom, Sky, not wanting to take her back. Pearl was half the size of Taz, wouldn’t stand up and Nancy thought if she brought Pearl in the house until she warmed up and stood up, she would be fine.
Pearl lived in the house for the first week. Pearl went shopping with Nancy and also to the restaurant until Pearl was old enough to stay in the stable with the rest of the goats. Pearl would call for Nancy in the morning and followed Nancy around everywhere. Any time Pearl was not feeling well, she high tailed it into the house and jumped up on the bed. Unfortunately, Pearl developed some type of cancer and died at the veterinarian’s office at 6 years of age.

Sky with Taz 2000
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Cinnamon with her son Doolin with Pearl nearby. Cinnamon wouldn’t feed Pearl, but she protected her and watched over her.

Pearl & Taz Pearl on bed

In the spring of 2000, Pearl with her brother, Taz, who always knew she was his sister. Pearl on her favorite bed and walking in the yard eating tasty plants.

Pearl eating weeds
Alphie and Ally

Alphie gave birth to a doeling named Ally in April of 2000. Nancy and Walt came home from a food show and there was Alphie standing outside with her new baby. Nancy put them in a stall by themselves, so they could bond for the first 3 days. Ally was a sweet and very quiet girl with ears held out to the side, which reminded Nancy of airplane ears. 
Alphie became a very dominant girl after becoming a mother and decided she was queen of the herd. She was very protective and none of the other goats would dare to touch her baby. At 4 years of age, Alphie became ill and died. Ally was picked on by the rest of the goats and Nancy decided to give her to friends who had just lost their Angora goat. Ally lives in Warrensburg with an Angora wether.

Cinnamon and Doolin 2000
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Cinnamon, the doe purchased with McHugh, gave birth to a buckling about a week after Ally was born. This time Nancy was able to watch his birth! Doolin was born on a Friday night during a Mitch concert at the restaurant. Something told Nancy to go home early and lucky she did! Doolin had a sweet disposition like his mother and was very affectionate.
Cinnamon came down with terrible diarrhea in August and no medication helped. Nancy took Cinnamon to the vet, but she died. Doolin became an orphan and Nancy decided to raise him with Pearl. The trio went for walks in the yard to eat maple leaves and other weeds and grass. It was quite a sight for people driving on Route 30. Doolin also died early at the age of 7, 10 months after Pearl.

Ally in the winter of 2003.

In 2001, Nancy became fascinated with alpacas at the NH Sheep and Wool Festival. She researched their care and housing needs, installed a 8x8 foot shed and was ready for 2 boys. 6 month old Snowman and Icy joined the Angora goats, coming from a Vermont farm. Both boys are Huacaya and have been gelded.
Icy loves all the other animals and finds the dog fascinating. He is very gentle, fawn colored, but does not grow very thick fiber. Icy is the alarm guy and signals when there is something amiss.
Snowman is very friendly but easily agitated. He is the first one to inspect a newcomer and loves treats. He is mostly white with very thick fiber, a handspinner’s dream. 

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2009 Snowman on the left and Icy on the right.

2001 Icy & Snowman
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Doolin in the fall of 2004.

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In May 2010, the alpacas left Nancy and moved to an alpaca farm in Syracuse. Nancy and Walter found them harder to handle and decided it was time for them to find a new home.

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Silver, Great Pyrenees dog, came shortly after the alpacas to guard the crew from coyotes, bears, fishers and bobcats. Silver (previously named Dartania) was born in Kansas and flew to Albany airport before driving to Indian Lake. Poor Silver suffered from motion sickness when she was young and it took her 2 days to recuperate from her big trip.
Silver is a great dog, very friendly with most people and does her job keeping the livestock safe. In November of 2009, she defended her charges from a hungry bobcat, who thought he might get dinner. 

Nancy’s newest goat additions are Pygoras (Angora goat and Pygmy cross). Yasligai (Navajo for White Snow) and Yoki (Hopi for Rain) arrived in February of 2009. Nancy decided she would like to have smaller goats, easier to handle and their fiber is useable for their entire life. Mohair becomes coarse and straightens out as the animals age.
Yas (for short) and Yoki are brothers, but boy do they have opposite personalities as well as their fiber! Yas has wild curly hair, blue eyes and is a light caramel color. He is very energetic, loves to play and is always on the move. Yoki has white smooth outter coat with a soft fine undercoat. Yoki reminds Nancy of Moe from the Three Stooges with the way his straight hair hangs down.  Yoki is very sweet, gentle and shy with new people. Both boys are wethered, enjoy apple treats and love to be brushed, especially during shedding time!

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Yasligai in February 2009.

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Brother,Yoki on arrival day.

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Fall of 2009 Yoki with his brother, Yas.

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Sky at 10 years of age and her son, Taz at 8 years of age.

Yas standing on the bench, has shed his fleece already, while Yoki nibbles from below. No wonder their fleeces get messy!

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Handsome Buck at 10 years of age.

Last but not least is Dax the inside dog. Dax is a rescue dog, part Irish Setter and Cattle Dog, although Nancy suspects some Australian Shepherd also. Dax came to live with Nancy in 2007 and is a sweet natured and gentle dog. She has her energy moments, but can be quite a lump on the couch! Dax is 3 1/2 years old.

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Spring of 2009, Sky, Zeb the pygmy goat, Taz, Yas, Yoki and Buck.

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Zeb, a pygmy goat, came to the farm in May of 2008 as a companion to another goat. Zeb was a happy guy until the fall of 2009, when he seriously injured Taz. Zeb became too rough for the rest of the herd and Nancy gave him to a family in North Hudson, where he resides with a pygmy doe named Rosie. He is in his element and much happier.

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Goats have come and gone, but Nancy enjoys their personalities and their fiber. She spends her winters washing, carding and spinning their fleeces. In between, she still finds time to knit clothing. The story never ends, like her yarn, but life keeps twisting and turning on an exciting journey with goats and alpacas!