I am ever so grateful we were able to find a horse for Meghan to love and grow with. Sofie has moments of brilliance and moments of willfulness like all equines and is managing to teach Meghan to savor the good times. Everyone who meets Sofie loves her. We also managed to find the perfect boarding barn near enough to the city we routinely visit, so Sofie is well cared for whenever we aren't around. And she has her mare pack to run with.
I am also thankful for the numerous fiber/sheep customers new and old who made 2009 a very good year for us, so we could afford to upgrade our truck and make some much needed purchases for the new paddocks. I look forward to seeing you all next season at the local farmer's markets and pet swaps.
I appreciate my sheep more than ever for their ability to hang in their during droughts, blizzards and other weather phenomenon and still produce such gorgeous fiber and lovely lambs. Their adaptability is inspiring. This season I was able to bring in more Cormo X's and I now have a small flock of exceptionally fine-fleeced animals to work with. Natural colored top from our farm is in the offing.
My daughter is funny, intelligent, savvy and a real help around the farm. We find we don't even have to talk much anymore...just know when each thing needs doing and work together to get it done. I know that her experiences on the farm are going to help her in whatever endeavor she chooses in her future. I cannot believe I didn't want children!
And then there are the ducks. What other animal can find such joy in the gloomiest, wettest and nastiest of days...to sound off with such glad tidings at the sound of a bag of spinach being opened...or rejoice in a fresh pan of water.
I am looking ever so forward to 2010 and hoping that the peace we are finding in our own lives will somehow infuse others and spread.
At one hour old Aly's white ram lamb sired by Mars just couldn't figure out what to do with all those legs and feet. It didn't help that he was on our stone floor in the house drying out and hadn't had any colostrum yet.
But by eighteen hours old he had things pretty much figured out. He and his black sister weighed in at a nice eleven pounds each. I just don't know where Aly was hiding them. More photos are posted at my cormo blog.
I am ever so grateful we were able to find a horse for Meghan to love and grow with. Sofie has moments of brilliance and moments of willfulness like all equines and is managing to teach Meghan to savor the good times. Everyone who meets Sofie loves her. We also managed to find the perfect boarding barn near enough to the city we routinely visit, so Sofie is well cared for whenever we aren't around. And she has her mare pack to run with. 
Seven months growth...fifth fleece. And very, very soft for a mature ram who was overconditioned. He'll be sorely missed.
Tennyson caught his one intact horn on a manger overnight and wasn't in good shape when I found him Friday morning. I freed him and got him moving around and eating with his ewes out in the field, but when we came home from town later that day he was dead by the pasture gate. Since I didn't know if he'd bred any or all of his ewes I put Buster II(Tennyson's polled three year old grandson)in with the group. He bred Foxtrot yesterday and is following Breathe around today. Below is a side sample from his third fleece. He seems to be following in his illustrious sire's footsteps when it comes to crimpy/fine fleece.
