Friday, June 24, 2011

The reveal

After two long days of driving, Garrett Ramsay pulled into Boulderneigh just before 8:00 last night. He was on his way to Black Sheep Gathering, but stopped here first to make a very special delivery (and spend the night). WhitePine Sarai is a yearling katmoget ewe I almost bought last year as a lamb, but decided against it for lack of space and finances. Garrett made her available to me again this year and I've sold several sheep, so I didn't let her slip by a second time! She has fine, soft, crimpy fleece; straight, square conformation; and is hopefully a poll-carrier.
She's not tame, but is calm and inquisitive. As you can see, I've already started wooing her with a little grain. :-)

But who is that shaggy shape in the background of photo #2? Why, that's Kimberwood Marta!
Kim Nikolai knew I was looking for fine-fleeced poll-carriers, and contacted me about a scurred ram she had. I told her I had no need of another ram; I was looking for a ewe. She told me about Marta, and then sent me fleece samples from both her and the ram. (That's what you saw in the earlier post.) Oh.My. Marta's had already been micron tested; I shipped the ram's sample off to Texas A&M the day I got it and called in to get the results. WOW.
Yeah; you guessed it. I now have three rams again! Meet Kimberwood Cadbury, a moorit gulmoget half-brother to Marta, a black gulmoget (same sire). Both are so soft it nearly took my breath away when I first laid my hands on them. And lucky me; neither have been sheared yet!

I think all three of these yearlings will add great things to my breeding program, and I shall be forever grateful to Garrett and Kim for making it possible to add them to my little flock!

That's the big news from . . .

15 comments:

Black Sheep said...

Congratulations! To you, and the new additions.. God and the universe provide when we are ready to receive it seems. and what Lucky sheep.. I would be happy in your Fold.
Melanie

Marie said...

Congratulations!! How exciting! They look wonderful and should be great additions to your flock and your goals.

Cloverleaf Art and Fibre said...

That's great news Michelle. Looking forward to more pictures of the whole flock.

Franna said...

Yes!!! Wonderful sheep. Worth waiting for, eh?

Michelle said...

Thanks, everyone! And yes, Franna, definitely worth waiting for. :-)

thecrazysheeplady said...

Congratulations! They are lovely :-D.

Christine said...

They are beautiful and I swear I can actually see the softness. Nice!

Kim Nikolai said...

Lucky lucky sheep! They have no idea yet what a wonderful home they now have not to mention that they will no longer have to live through Minnesota winters!!

So happy they arrived safe and sound!

Deb W said...

That Garrett! He sure gets around, and thank the Lord he was willing to get around by your place! The new sheep are gorgeous, and I'm sure with your sheepy-handler ways, you will make them feel at home in no time.

Arg! Fiona is feeling particularly lovey, and trying to walk on the keyboard as I type. Why only when I'm on the computer?

Karen Valley said...

Very nice additions to your polled program. What were Marta's micron results? Will be interesting to see how her half-brother compares.

Michelle said...

Deb, Fiona is acting just like a child - "Mom isn't paying attention to ME; gotta change that!" ha

Kim, I am the one who is lucky - no, blessed. :-)

Karen, Cadbury's results are: 21.1 AFD, 4.7 SD, 22.3 CV, 20.7 SF. Marta's results are: 22.1 AFD, 5.3 SD, 24.0 CV, 93.5 CF. Both are finer than any other yearlings I've had here, and the handle on both fleeces is WONDERFUL!

A :-) said...

Michelle - I am so excited for you!!! All these sheep look really beautiful to me :-)

Wendy said...

I really enjoy reading about your sheep and I know NOTHING about them! Thanks for sharing with us - just wish I could feel how soft they are through the computer. :)

Leigh said...

They're beautiful, what a blessing!

Kelly said...

Wonderful that you are so happy with your new sheep, it's tough to buy sheep from half way across the country. You gotta love Garrett, he's a jem.