Meet Margot Justice

I am a city girl born and raised in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . I am a retired Registered Nurse which has helped me tremendously with injections and the cria birthing process.

We moved to our farm in May, 2002. Interstate highway construction took our home in West Virginia . We had bought Windswept Farm in 1990, and had renovated the farm house for weekend visits. It is located on State Route 555, Little Hocking, in the southeast of Ohio .

I had never taken care of livestock but knew I wanted farm animals, so I bought four goats and practiced with them.

In December of 2002, I saw the ILOVEALPACAS.com commercial on television. I put their name into my computer and began to receive alpaca literature. A postcard for the MAPACA show in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania , caught my attention. It was near family. I would visit and take a look. When I left the show building after a full Saturday of gazing at these beautiful animals, I knew I would own alpacas. To my sister's dismay (she loves the huacayas) I would have elegant suris. It still takes my breath away to see my girls posing on the hillside with the wind blowing their fine locks.

I began my herd with a white weanling that turned out to be a Ramillo daughter. How is that for beginners luck? Because I loved the natural colors, my business plan was to have six different colored foundation females. I would go off farm for my breedings - and I do.

I thought that was my whole plan until I saw that cute little farm cottage sitting idle and I turned it into a bed and breakfast. Many guests come and just sit on the front porch and watch the alpacas graze.

In January of 2005, my first cria was born, a beautiful white female- Adorable Abigail. I was awed by her birth and since I was alone, I went inside and wrote about the birth as a short story. Over time other events on the farm turned into short stories as seen by a little black gelding- Affable Alfonso. I had bought "Alphie", to be our PR alpaca. My book "Tails of Windswept Farm", published in January 2007, is a group of short farm stories, narrated by him. Who would have guessed I would spend my sixty seventh birthday doing a book signing at Borders, with Alphie just outside?

My bed and breakfast, "The Cottage at Windswept- A Bed and Breakfast Retreat", also houses a gift shop. In it I sell hats I knit, my book, yarn, roving and alpaca fashions that I buy wholesale. I watch in amazement as the suri bears fly off the shelf to anyone who cuddles them.

I do book signings, local arts and crafts shows, read my book to school children, while Alphie accompanies me to everyone's delight. My latest project was a television segment for PBS. It was aired statewide January 12-18, on the OUR OHIO show.

I believe our suri alpacas will become more popular as livestock and I hope all little girls grow up wanting to own one as they do with horses.

What a change in my life since I first bought Pearl . From one to ten my herd has grown and changed as I traded and sold and birthed and lost. When I go out to do my morning chores, I feel how blessed I am to be part of this growing alpaca community.