Mother’s Day tea party with alpacas

Forget flowers or breakfast in bed.

An unusual Mother’s Day event was held in Hillsburgh Sunday – a tea party with some adorable alpacas.

“We have our moms, and their babies, enjoying a little romp around the field,” said Anna Dehn, the owner of Mimosa Springs Alpacas.

The moms also got to sip tea and taste some sweet treats while getting a tour of the 40 acre farm.

“This is actually a Mother's Day gift from my husband, and it was a complete surprise,” explained Cheryl Goetz. “We would definitely do it again and definitely encourage other people. Any excuse to get out in nature and try a new experience.”

She also learned a lot from the experience.

“When they [remove] the fur from them, the leftover waste can be used as fertilizer in your garden and has a lot of benefits. And I think that's amazing because so many of us are starting to grow our own food and flowers,” Goetz said.

Life on the farm

More than just alpacas live on the property. Sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, horses and donkeys also call Mimosa Springs home.

 “It started as a joke,” said Dehn. “We had supported some animals here, some horses back in 2018, and they went back to their respective homes in the fall and it was very boring to look out in the fields. My husband and I, we were looking at Kijiji ads, and we found an ad for three alpacas and I had no idea what it was. So we got three and brought them home. We got three more, [then] three more, [then] 20 more. Now we have 144.”

Dehn and her family have since started up a new business.

“We recently bought a fibre mill so we can process the fibre here from our animals, straight through to the yarn. It's very new. We're hoping this year to get product out of our mill,” she said. “We're really trying to educate people, whether it's sheep's wool or alpaca fiber, on the usability of it. It's a natural resource, it has excellent qualities if it’s processed properly. We are wasting so much fiber in this industry. If we educate people, we can help them to understand the benefits of those fibers, the benefits of having natural-made products, [and] you know how to care for [them].”

Tours are offered year-round for anyone who wants to learn more about the farm and its animals.

Check out the Mimosa Springs website for more information.