Just Some February Randomness

1. I found some brand new paperback Elsie books by Martha Finley for sale at the library. I didn't know what they were, but they looked interesting. They had books 6-9. When I got home I called my Sister and told her about my find. It turned out she has the whole series and loves them. She just so happened to have extra's of books 1-5 in hardcover. Lucky me!

2. Our Library bookstore had all the Daphne Du Maurier books for $0.50 each. I have only listened to her book Rebecca on tape a few years back. I loved it, then got the film and was disappointed. I hate it when they ruin books trying to making them into a movie. I think I will have lot's of books to read during the hot time of day this Summer.

3 & 4. Dandelion. This is how I get greeted every time I walk out to the pasture. 

5. Merlot. His lazy self. In one of his usual lounging spots. He's 15 years old, and I have never gotten a good picture of him. If I point the camera at his face, he will close his eyes.

Kimberly

Just Kidding

Jetta's Daughter (we never named her) decided to surprise us with a darling little girl. We knew she was pregnant, we just didn't realize that she was due yet. When I was out doing the evening feeding, I was watching them eat their grain, when I spotted something inside one of the pallets lining the fence (make do or do without). I saw black with a white stripe down the center. It's a baby skunk! I called my Dad over to come look at it.Then I noticed something just didn't look right, and thought "I wonder if one of the goats had a baby?". My Dad had called my Mom on his cell to ask if she wanted to come look at a cute baby skunk asleep in the pallet. I scanned the backsides of the does, and sure enough Jetta's Daughter had just had a baby. I squealed "It's a baby!". I was so loud that my Mom heard me, hung up the phone, and by the time I got into the pen and pulled the little one out from behind the pallet, she was standing at the fence admiring the gorgeous markings. We were all so happy to find out it was a little girl. She was quite a nice surprise.

A few days later Joyful (finally named Joys Daughter) had a big black and white boy. So Jetta's Daughter's Daughter : ) now has someone to play with. We really need to name that goat, its getting too confusing.

Kimberly

Rooing Puddin

One of the great things about Shetland Sheep is that they were bred to release their wool naturally by shedding. A lot of breeders have bred out this trait, since it is faster to shear a sheep than to roo it (pluck the wool). I was so happy when I discovered that Puddin was shedding her hair.

I started out with her on this plywood, but there was a breeze wanting to blow the wool into the dirt, and a bit hard on my legs trying to get down to her level. So I moved her to the stanchion. I never locked her head in the stanchion (she's to short), instead I tied her lead to the headpiece. She stood still, and seemed to really enjoy the process. I think it must have felt good.

There are 3 types of Shetland fleece. Her type is called Kindly. It means she has a fine, single coat with no guard hairs.

Although she looks like she has bald spots in the picture, she doesn't, it's just the way the sun shone through her wool in the picture.

She was left with a short fuzzy coat, but not as short as if she had been sheared.

My hands got a very heavy bath in lanolin. Sheep shears must have really soft hands.

The result was 2 cartloads of her beautiful fleece for me to play with (I think it weighed about 2 1/2 pounds), and a much more comfortable Puddin.

To find out more about Shetland Sheep go to the North American Shetland Sheepbreeders Association website.

Kimberly