Seven ready to ship

Last night I finally got Bramble scissor-sheared. This morning I did the bit of skirting it needed; now seven fleeces (Benny, Browning, Bittersweet, Bree, Vienna, Sarai, and Bramble) are boxed and ready to ship to one of my long-time clients – yes, to ONE client. It is indeed gratifying to have customers who keep coming back for the kind of fleeces I'm striving to produce in my flock – fine, crimpy, next-to-skin-soft Shetland wool! Here is Bramble's on the skirting "table":

Bramble produces a LOT of lanolin, which is visible on the cut side. I also have photos of the last fleece I skirted, Bree's oh-so-lovely hogget fleece:

I am expecting Bree's baby sister to produce just as nice a fleece; Blake and Vienna make "beautiful music" together. :-D Speaking of Babette, she and Bree were love bugs this morning:

At the rate she's growing, Babette could soon be bigger than her yearling sister. If that happens, I might just breed both of them this fall to Lil'Country Nightcap. He is the polled, fine-fleeced moorit ram Franna bought and I leased; he sired Blaise, Benny, and all the other nice lambs born here two years ago. When Franna was ready to move Nightcap last fall, I couldn't let this prepotent sire get away. He's been staying in Sally Tibbet's flock since then in exchange for using him this coming fall before he comes here. I'll have to decide before then if I'm going to breed anyone else; it would be nice to get some black-based lambs out of Sarai. (Blaise could also produce black-based lambs, but I don't want to breed her to her sire and I don't think Blake is a good cross for her.) I've had inquiries for breeding stock this spring that I couldn't fill, but of course next year there could be NO market (or I may only get ram lambs)-:

That's all the sheep talk for today from . . .