The Flock

Friday was the day that I went to select my new flock of fiber girls. I got up early and drove to Under the Son Farm where Theresa helped me pick out a nice little group of girls. I've been buying wonderful shetland fleeces from her for several years so when I decided it was time for sheep I knew right where to go. She was extremely helpful, pointing out the positive and negatives of every girl. Finally I decided on a flock of 6 ewes who loaded into the trailer and came home with me. First and the oldest is Clara, a 5 year old fawn/mioget ewe. Then there is Yunan who is a yearling fawn katmoget ewe. Then there are 3 shetland ewe lambs a black (Calico), a shaela (Orchids) and a grey katmoget (Brocade). The sixth is a bfl/shetland white ewe lamb. I'm also getting a pure cormo white whether later this fall from my friend Jane. That should give me a wide aray of colors and some very soft silky fleeces to blend with my angora bunny. I'm really enjoying my small flock, Clara is very tame and all the lambs follow her around. That sure comes in handy when I want to bring the flock into the fold in the barn at night. Last night I went out and yelled for Clara and the whole group came a running. Stay tuned as I continue my adventure into shepherding

Changes

Life moves on, after a lot of thought I have found new homes for both of my arab horses. I've had them for many years and raised them on the farm, but as much as I loved them it was getting more apparent that I would not be riding them. My arm has continued to give me trouble since my fall 6 years ago (hard to believe it has been that long). It gives me pain and numbness if something yanks on it and as good as they both were we would have that situation every once in a while with a critter that is a flight animal and weighs 1,000 lbs. I am happy with my decision and they have both went to very good homes where they will be ridden and have excellent care.
The next question was what to do with the grass that grows on my 5 acres. Since I've been in the fiber business for 6 years now the obvious choice was a small spinner's flock of sheep. Hopefully that dream will start to materialize next month. I've got a little bit of fencing to do and then a bit of barn work, but not too much. I'll update the blog with pictures as things happen.

Keeping Warm

Some folks at work were wondering how I keep the bunnies warm in winter when their warm wool coats are sheared. They have to be shorn every 90 days or the coat gets too long for use and it also causes the rabbit to have issues. So I still follow the schedule and shear them, but then they get to live in a heated room in the barn for a while. I spent a lot of time this fall and the room stays toasty warm thanks to a small oil filled heater and 2 inch foam insulation on the walls and ceiling. They also get to wear their little fleece coats.