White giant

That's it for today from . . .

The flower of youth

I started cleaning up Benny yesterday so I could coat him, but when it became apparent the job was much bigger than my available time, I switched gears. Instead, all four lambs got halter time, and all but Bali got toe trims and fleece photos taken. Blaise got a bigger coat (C); Bali needs one but all the Ds are in use so some juggling and washing is in order.

I am so, so happy with this year's lambs; I know, I've said that before. Indulge me as I drool:

Two views of Benny's fleece, in shade and sun. His 2015 fleece is already reserved.

My cute-as-a-blaze-faced-bug and soft-as-a-cloud Blaise. As usual, I couldn't get good photos of her silvery black fleece, but she has organized crimp along with softness, density, and length. I may have to keep her 2015 fleece for myself!

Since I'm keeping Blaise, her dam Kimberwood Marta is for sale. Marta's fleece has disorganized crimp, but the two times I've bred her to fine-fleeced rams with organized crimp, the offspring have taken after their sires in crimp and fineness while maintaining great length.

(Bali's fleece is just like this, only in grey.)

I took the most photos of Barbados because he is for sale, but he was too busy resenting the halter for good conformation shots. Handsome (not so) little turd!

You might think I'd be willing to let Sarai go (Garrett really wants her back) since she gave me a carbon-copy daughter. But I want to breed both of them to Blake this fall to see what happens. If both girls give me carbon copies of themselves, Sarai can go back to Garrett, but if their fantastic crimp and micron profiles blend nicely with Blake's length and luster, I'll keep the sheep that give me "golden" fleeces!

For me, "golden fleece" starts with our breed's standard, written in 1927 (the first two sentences), and clarified by Appendix A (in italics). To wit:

WOOL Extra fine and soft texture, longish, wavy and well closed. Wool on forehead and poll tapering into neck, likewise wool on cheeks. Should be clarified and expanded as follows: 'Longish probably means 3” to 5" in full fleece, Certainly no Shetland should have a staple of 7 ". 'The Field' 10/3/1927. 'Well closed': of medium density. 'Wool on forehead and poll, likewise wool on cheeks' to be clarified as 'not in excess', Reference to early photographs illustrates this clearly. There should be no frill. 'The Field' 10/3/1927. 'Wavy' means what we now term as crimp. The Universal Dictionary defines crimp as 'the natural curliness of wool fibres'. A good description could read as follows: Wool Extra fine and soft above all else. Crimped, of medium density and (length) 3 to 5 inches in full fleece. Breeches having coarser/longer wool but not extending into thighs. Wool, not in excess, present on poll and cheeks

My ideal Shetland fleece is at the longer end of the above spectrum, at least 4" unstretched, and has the added "gravy" of luster. (Density goes without saying; a Shetland shouldn't have a loose, open fleece.) That's what I've been working towards producing consistently in my tiny flock, and yesterday, I realized that I've actually succeeded pretty well. I have four wethers who meet my ideal in fineness, softness, crimp, length, density, and (in three of the four) luster. Interestingly, all are sons or grandsons of one sheep –

Annabelle – Whistlestop 0338. Thank-you, you grand old dame. If only they had all been daughters.

That's it for today from . . .

Fine sights for thee to see

When I heard about a renaissance festival in Oregon, with discount tickets available, I jumped at the chance to take my family. I've only been to one such festival before; it was at least 25 years ago in Minnesota, and my mom and I had a blast.

The Oregon Renaissance Festival of Hillsboro is a young festival, inaugurated just last year. Even so, I thought they had a great selection of shows, music, activities, vendors, and food booths. We stayed the whole day and had plenty to do and see, visiting a few of our favorite things twice (falconry, jousting, greyhounds – me).

The Festival continues three more weekends; I suggest ye get thee hence if thee be near enough! I'll try to tantalize you with some photos and videos to whet your appetite. ;-)

Now it's back to the 21st century, at . . .

Let them eat cake!

Pity the boys at Boulderneigh. When we found out how much sheep hay (2nd or 3rd cutting grass) has gone up, my husband said we might have to sell some sheep. I'm not opposed to that; I have an outstanding ram lamb available, one ewe I'd be willing to sell, and some wethers that would keep some lucky spinner in wonderful wool for years. But I'm not willing to send sheep "to market," so unless/until any of them are offered new homes, how will I be able to afford to feed them?

I decided the solution was to feed the boys the hay we have – the coarse valley hay we got for the horses – and save the limited amount of fine, expensive stuff we're going to get for the ewes and lambs. They all think I'm starving them to death, but as you can see by Bart's example in the photo above, they are far from it. (Bart isn't going to be losing any of that weight, either; he is eating the coarser hay better than any of the others.)

Thankfully, they aren't holding a grudge. ;-)

Although Marie Antoinette came along well after the Renaissance, her famous quote I borrowed for my title also seemed to fit what we did today.  I'll share more tomorrow, but here's a hint:

We had a blast!

That's it for today from . . .