I’d been planning a blog about the economic impact of the Tour de France. I’ve done lots of research and it’ll make for interesting reading. But as I sat down to make a start on it this evening, in between watching the exciting last stage of the Tour, I noticed an unfamiliar shape out in the llama field. Very small, medium brown – definitely a newcomer! I did my usual ‘just seen a baby camelid’ sprint outside, closely followed by the rest of the family, and we all went to make the acquaintance of Cadella Cavendish of Les Fragnes.

For non-cyclists out there, Cadella is after Cadel Evans who won the Tour de France this year, and who we’ve been cheering for, and Cavendish is after Mark Cavendish, the green jersey winner and phenomenal sprinter. Cadella has been born on Elrond’s first birthday. July 24th seems to be a good day for alpaca arrivals.

Cadella’s mother is Kiera (the suri alpaca formerly known as Popham Acoria) and her father is our very own Brendan. She has his colour, maybe just a shade or two lighter. And we’re pretty sure she’s a suri, judging from her slightly curly wool. However, we’ll see what happens as she gets bigger.

What a wonderful surprise on Tour de France final day!