During my last post, my guys were putting up the outside lights. Now our house and the Japanese maple in the island bed are festooned in blue and white. (I thought this "flubbed" photo was kinda cool!)
Remember the ice on the twig in my previous post? Now everything is dripping wet. As predicted, our weather is back to its "regularly scheduled programming." :-)
This morning I noticed these crocus shoots. More transitions! Hard to believe that soon the first flowers of Boulderneigh - daphne odora and snowdrops - will be blooming.
Braveheart doesn't look like he enjoys the rain much. We've talked about building him a shelter, or at least a shed roof, but it hasn't happened yet and I'm not sure he'd use it.I sure hate to turn this handsome boy into "freezer fill." He has so many nice qualities; I just wish he had finer fleece! Before the rain started, I snipped a fleece sample from his last rib area. I'm going to get Lois' opinion on it when I see her this week to pick up my new ewe. It feels soft against my face and neck, but I am not known for my sensitive skin. I measured the crimp out of curiosity; he has 7-8/inch.
The rest of the sheep are still sheltered and dry in the fold. As soon as the new ewe is bred, I plan to start utilizing the lower pasture for the girls - and throw Blackberry and Browning out in the elements with Braveheart. Here is the lovely Bronwen, daughter of the ewe (Dinah) pictured in my header. This fawn gulmoget sweetheart definitely has her mother's ears. :-)
That's it for now from . . .
12 comments:
I think that photo looks cool as well
Wizz :-)
What?!? Your flowers are already starting to pop out?!?
I think that's a lovely fleece.
Crazy crocuses, it's not even remotely close to being Spring! Although I like their wishful thinking.
Michelle,
You should get someone that has superfine wool that they have microned, to send you a little sample to rub between your fingers to help to show you the difference. I got Karen Valley to send me a snippet from her ram lamb Sheltering Pines Bug that I bought from her, who microned at 20 something. I compared it to the ram lambs that I had that were in the 24-25 range and I could instantly feel the difference. Bug will be comeing out west sometime next year.
Sometimes, micron counts don't mean a thing if the fleece has a good hand. He looks crimpy. What kind of lambs did he throw? Was their fleece nice in your opinion?
Surely, someone from the polled group might want him. I seem to remember your telling me he had a good temperament as well. I hope he finds a good home.
I agree, Kathy, but I DO think there is a correlation between micron and hand. Even Lois, queen of "handle," has made the decision to not use for breeding any Shetland that has an AFD of 30 or higher.
As for his lambs, I retained one but he is out of my coarsest ewe so probably not a good one to judge by. Others felt softer than Browning as lambs, but I don't know how they matured. I am told his one intact son, Boulderneigh Bluster, is very nice and soft (and throws loud spots!), but I don't think he has been micron tested. This year Braveheart got Brava and Inky, both of whom are softer than he is. We'll see what he throws next spring!
Oh, can I sing the praises of good sheepy wool for just a bit. As someone who goes to great lengths to find wool that ISN'T over soft, there is both market and use for wool that might not be as soft. Michelle, you know the rigors of farm life and only a good tough wool will hold up in a sweater worn around the farm, and mitten, gloves and boot socks too.
Love the tree photo and your ewe, oh so pretty. That is quite the pair of ears. You have crocuses out already!?? Gosh, we're still waiting for our winter to set in and stay. Tons of rain down here too. Yuck, I want snow, I want my ground to stay frozen....:)
It's so funny to me that it's 6 degrees here, and you have crocuses (croci?) coming up! I remember planting pansies in October in SoCal. Its unnatural! It's DECEMBER for crying out loud :-D
And all that fleece is nice looking! Hope it comes out as soft as you wish :-)
Theresa, I agree that "strong" wool is definitely better for some projects than soft wool is, but that is why we have different breeds of sheep, isn't it? The Shetlands have historically been defined as the finest of the British breeds, and I am all in favor of keeping that distinction. Certainly you can use their britch wool for projects that need stronger wool, and their neck wool for projects needing super-fine wool, but I think putting a "ceiling micron" on what constitutes fine (for a mid-side sample) is appropriate. Similar to the Jacob registry having a "basement micron" in their breed; they are not supposed to be a fine-wooled breed, so anything below a certain micron is considered "not breed appropriate."
The fleece photo looks very nice. Even if it's not overly fine, it would still make a good pair of springy socks. Good luck finding a new home for him.
I like the flubbed picture and I like the locks - so clean and shiny.
Thank you Michelle, I just learned about double what I knew about sheep and fleece and breeding! I guess I worry that merino is taking over the world....
It makes sense that any fleece breed would have a set of standards to cover breed specific fleece qualities.
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