A Beautiful Afternoon!

I had some water run into part of the barn with the rapid thaw. I put down lots of straw but as I walked across it I could hear squish-squish and I was not pleased. We have a huge puddle west of us. At noon the frost is gone and the puddle disappeared. Good! an end to the water running across the frozen ground. So I cleaned the barn and put down some good hay/straw chaff. Nice The barn looks good again. I am a little frantical about my barn I like it clean, dry and fresh. And I will admit-- I hover over my ewes and chickens. I was raised by good German parents,who said" if you are going to have animals, you are to take good care of them and feed them well." I guess it stuck.

Met my Shadow, sold as a Shetland cross.... When we sheared she has black guard hair throughout her wool. I have had Romanovs in the past-- Shadow is part Romanov no doubt.
She is 2 yrs old-- we checked her teeth- due in late April and is carrying quite a load.
So tame she will stand for a good petting. Her fleece with its coarse black guard hair mixed in fine wool was one of the first to sell.......hand spinner wanted to try something different



I swapped my last two ewes for sale Charm and Diamond to Rayna. I am getting a mother/daughter pair. Goldie is a 3 yr old, her breed in a mystery but she's pretty, tame and look what she produced! Silver is a yearling was sired by a Shetland ram . Both Goldie and Silver are bred to a Shetland ram and due in May. Thanks Rayna they will be a great addition to my flock Pictures courtesy of North Star Sheep
Goldie stretching
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Silver with Goldie

Silver is a Gulmoget
Just look at Silver's face!!




Another addition which has been much anticipated-- Highlands Hollow BlueBell from Gail. She is one of Gail's great foundation ewes. She is an exceptional ewe, excellent fleece and outstanding conformation. BlueBell is a hefty ewe 100 + pounds, I like my Shetland ewes a bit bigger than average. They work best for my hobby flock. BlueBell arrives after her lambs are weaned about July 1st. Thanks so much Gail Just think next fall BlueBell bred to Bombarde. Now that will be some great lambs. A nice son of theirs will be my next ram.
BlueBell last fall

Picture courtesy from Little Red Oak Shetlands

Its quiet around here. We have our granddaughter for an extended weekend. Last night Nessie complained of an ear ache. Paula took her to the ER, yep another ear infection. Ness is on meds and is taking it easy. At 6 she likes her alone time with us. She is our only grand kid so she gets lots of attention. We may indulge her a bit, but she knows to be kind, caring and be well behaved. At 2 yrs old she was hanging on my pant leg......howling away,,,for the first time , I looked down at her and said "hey....Grandpa doesn't like that" Nessie stopped and has never done it again. If kids know there is a line they don't across, the rest is easy.

About all I know

Till later

Jerry