Full-Time Country Woman, Julie Petty

Julie Petty, from Alpaca Meadows website

I met Julie Petty about a month ago when Jim and I stopped by her farm store at Alpaca Meadows. Last year, Jim saw the Petty's ad for their open house and bought the best pair of socks I have ever worn for part of my Christmas present.

Well, one pair of socks that keep my feet warm and dry is nice, but really, a gal who is outside almost everyday needs more than one pair, and I set out to expand my alpaca sock wardrobe.

Raising alpacas is more than a business, it is a lifestyle. There are several alpaca farms in our area, and my neighbors have added a few to their operation (see the post about Bunny and Claude). However, meeting Julie was the first time I've talked with an alpaca business owner.

Meeting Julie was a pleasure. Her enthusiasm and passion for her animals and country lifestyle is evident because she can't stop smiling when she is talking about her business. She gave me permission to use her picture and her bio from the farm's website: www.alpacameadows.com. You can read her bio below, and then visit the website to browse the products and classes that the Petty's offer, visit their Etsy store, and read the bios of the whole Alpaca Meadows team.

Marcheta *feeling warm and fuzzy :)

Julie writes:

I love my job. Never did I dream I’d be raising alpacas when “I grew up”! Seems like it might have been something God had planned. When I was little, we raised Irish Setters. We always had huge litters and had to help bottle feed those puppies. I loved it and practically lived in that dog pen! Maybe that’s when my love of animals first began.

People that come to visit and listen to me talk about alpacas say they can tell I love them and have a passion for what I’m doing. What a gift! I am wife to Matt, mother to Adam, Aaron, and Abby, step-mother to Libby, step-mother-in-law to Charles, and step-grandmother to Keandre’, Zavier, and Leila.

I graduated from Ashland College with a degree in Clothing Fashion Merchandising. I moved to Durango, Colorado to “find myself” and spent the next four years in “God’s country” where the sun shines most every day! My favorite job (for awhile) was working for Durango Cookery where I managed the office, and was involved with the marketing of the products we sold—I also skied a lot!

Though I said I’d never live in Ohio again, I met Matt (on a blind date) and we were married! We owned Hallmark stores and I did the bookkeeping for the stores in our home for the next ten years while we raised our children. We sold our house, built two more, moved, rented, and moved again. The birth of our third child and the growth of the stores put me “over the edge” as far as trying to do the work at home and my “career” at Petty’s Hallmark came to a close.

There were a few “off” years and in the Fall of 2002, we plunged into the alpaca business! What a journey it has been. I often tell people that half the fun has been all I’ve learned – about things I never knew I’d need to know! I hope to explore the fiber end of this business much more – I have learned to spin, and felt, and dye, and knit.

It is very rewarding to actually deliver the baby and raise the animal that produces the fleece for the items in our farm store! I love sitting in the pasture on a warm day just watching the alpacas and I love sitting in the straw when the barn is bedded for winter just observing. There is a peace about being with these beautiful creatures that God has blessed us with – it just doesn’t get much better than this!