$2.99–$21.99

THE MAKING OF A LLAMA FAMILY chronicles a couple’s 26-year odyssey with their Llamas, first at their farm in North Carolina and later at their ranch in southwestern Virginia. The story begins in 1976, when the author and her husband met in Fairfax, Virginia, and it traces their adventures from Fairfax to Florida, to the Carolinas and back to their present-day farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The journey relates incidents from the early years of the couple’s marriage, and then evolves into the long partnership with their Llama herd, starting in 1990. The author recounts the tale of moving to their current Virginia property in 1996 and creating a Llama ranch from a blank canvas.

The couple lived for several weeks in their van while their barn was being built and then, while their house was being constructed, they lived with their Llamas in the barn. Key to the story is how the couple interacted with the Llamas while sharing the barn with them, and how both humans and animals remain today as one family unit. The author details her years of observing Llamas as a family, and provides essential information for their care and happiness.