TAGGED--I'M IT.

Thanks Stephen...I think?

Favorite Foods: Ice Cream(except mocha)

Fresh sun warmed berries of all types and colors

Shelled peas lightly steamed

Chocolate(except when coffee beans are involved)

Pecans(actually I've never met a nut I didn't like)

A really good burger(locally purchased grassfed Highland)

Fresh fish(we have whitefish and trout fresh from Superior)

Potatoes dug in the spring



Favorite restaurants: Border Grill

Oakland Bistro(in Kalamazoo)

Tu Kaluthia(Greek cafe in our library)

Babycakes Muffin Shop(good wraps and soups)

Red Lobster(truly remarkably "hot" waiter)

Any place where I do not have to do the dishes...



What I did on November 26th: Got the fire going in the wood cookstove.

Spun yarn for the farmer's market on Sat.

Got all the barns opened up and the animals out in the paddocks with their hay ration for the day.

Shot, sheared and necropsied a ewe lamb that I suspected had acute liver fluke. She'd been doing poorly for several weeks despite numerous treatments and I vowed if she started not rallying and showed signs of pain I wouldn't let her suffer. She was grinding her teeth and unable to rise this morning. She did have liver fluke but fortunately the rest of the flock is fine.

Nailed horizontal boards up along the back paddock fence to improve its height and hopefully keep predators out. I rebuilt all the paddocks this fall and am just finishing up now.

Put the critters to bed.

Fixed spaghetti for supper for Megs.

Got into my pj's and settled in to watch Grey's Anatomy which we rented.




Favorite stores: TSC(they just opened one about an hour south of us)

Target(because they don't have muzak)

Super One Foods(I've been shopping there since moving north and everyone knows me there.)

Farmer Q's(they sell me 45# boxes of apples for $5.00 for the sheep and these are high quality apples--sometimes even three for one)

Mares-Z-Doats(our local feed store)




Wish List: A calmer/saner world

A healthy planet

Contented people living with less "stuff"

Cars that run on hydrogen and have air flow instead of tires

A biodynamic way to fight parasites in livestock

A mild winter and early spring

A truly wonderful life for my daughter

Growing old gracefully and with a good sense of humor



Things I like to do with family: Sit with the sheep

Watch Casino Royale over and over again

Laugh

Clean barns

Watch my daughter ride

Go somewhere out of the ordinary



I believe everyone whose blogs I read have already been tagged?

REAL OR RESIN?

Meghan has been "painting" and customizing resins for the past six years and is becoming very competitive in the model horse show circuit. This is her major project from this season--she has to work around the weather and spray her models outside to "fix" them, so it takes some time and effort. She usually only does smaller scale models, but this one caught her eye so she just had to have him. She does commisions and enjoys doing micro-minis which are the size of the change in your pocket.

EWES & DOES AT BRIGHT ANGELS' FARM

Winter Sky Diva is a Jericho F1 spotted katmoget out of Winter Sky Calypso. Her yearling micron test was 23.5 AFD, 5.6 SD, and 23.8 CV. She will be crossed with Kodachrome this November.
These two daughters of Wintertime Black Forrest are Elle(the black gulmoget)and Kir(the fawn gul/kat). Elle's fall lamb test was 23.5 AFD, 4.7 SD and 19.9 CV. Kir's yearling test was 19.5 AFD, 5.1 SD and 25.6 CV. They are both being bred by Kodachrome this November.
The moorit smirslet ewe in the back is Winter Sky Breathe. Her two year old micron test was 25.9 AFD, 6.4 SD and 24.7 CV. She is being bred to Captain this November. Thistlekeep Aquilegia is the black 6 year old ewe in the foreground. Her micron test this fall came back 24.6 AFD, 5.7 SD and 23.1 CV. She is being bred to Wintertime Red Velvet.
This lovely fawn gulmoget ewe lamb is Winter Sky Kahlua. Her sire is Winter Sky Cointreau and her dam is Winter Sky Kir. Her lamb test this fall was 20.9 AFD, 6.6 SD and 31.4 CV. She has a very long, silky fleece. She isn't going in a breeding pen this fall as she was a later lamb and is the smallest on our farm.
These colorful does are my daughters AGS registered Nigerian Dwarf goats. She maintains a very small(seven)number of does and all but one are bred to Twincreeks PDF Megapixel for next March. Megapixel is the son of two permanent champions who both appraised excellent. He has a lovely temperament and is long and stretchy and dairy. Kids will be available from this cross for competitive prices.

Getting All Our Ducks In A Row

We presently have nine bantam ducks residing at our farm. Seven are purebred Australian Spotteds in all three color phases. The pure black duck is a cross our Silky duck produced before we sold all our Silkies to another breeder.

LIL'COUNTRY NIGHTCAP

Meghan wants to work towards a fully polled flock of Shetlands, so I went shopping for a polled line in either ram or ewe with unrelated or less-related bloodlines to what she already owns. I found "Bailleys" down at MFF in Juli Budde's pens and felt he was definitely worth bringing north. His fleece is consistent and crimpy with nice structure overall and a light fawn/mioget coloration coming in at the skin. He tested 22 at the last rib this fall. His breeding group will consist of Meghan's two foundation ewes: Wintertime Ruby(Red's dam who tested 21.6 microns at two years of age)and V Creek Sarah(a Dillon F1/Holly F2)grey katmoget ewe whose second test was 25.3 AFD, 5.5 SD, and 21.7 CV.

WINTERTIME RED VELVET

Winter Sky Black Forrest X Wintertime Ruby(Sandstone daughter). Red has a very dense, crimpy, shorter fleece that is very consistent. His fall test at last rib was 21.7 AFD, 3.8 SD, and 17.7 CV. He appears to be even finer than his sire who has maintained a dramatically soft black fleece into maturity. Red's group will consist of the following ewes: Thistlekeep Aquilegia(shaela ewe with a 24 micron), Wintertime Chiffon(Aman X Crisp moorit) and Wintertime Aretha(grey katmoget F2 Jericho double F3 Holly/Jamie). These lambs will be NASSA registerable.

WINTER SKY CAPTAIN

Wintertime Black Forrest X Winter Sky Amaretto(3/4 sister to Tennyson). Captain has a lustrous, crimpy, locky fleece that is consistent and tested 21.6 AFD, 4.3 SD, 20.1 CV this fall at last rib. He'll have the following ewes in his breeding group this fall: Kismet(black Jamie F1), Halla(Kismet's shaela daughter), Staccato(true musket F2 Greyling), and Breathe(a moorit smirslet Sandstone daughter--dam to Skater Boy).

WINTER SKY KODACHROME

Winter Sky Leonid(F1 Orion)X Winter Sky Khaya. He tested 20.4 AFD, 4.4 SD and 21.7 CV at last rib this fall and has a lovely, lengthy, crimpy, silky fleece of medium moorit color. He'll be breeding Deja(black Tennyson daughter), Kir(fawn gul/kat Forrest daughter), Elle(black gul Forrest daughter), Geneva(black Forrest daughter), Diva(fawn smirslet kat Jericho F1)and Foxtrot(musket Leonid daughter).

TEXAS A & M Micron Results--2008 Lambs

WINTERTIME NASSA REGISTERED LAMBS:

ARETHA(Blues X Alafair grey katmoget ewe) AFD 25.7 SD 5.9 CV 22.8

FUDGE(Forrest X Ruby HST moorit horned ram) AFD 19.7 SD 5.4 CV 27.4

ITASCA(Landslide X Izzy black ewe) AFD 24.3 SD 4.8 CV 19.8

RED(Forrest X Ruby half-poll moorit gul ram) AFD 21.7 SD 3.8 CV 17.7

CHIFFON(Aman X Crisp modified moorit ewe) AFD 22.0 SD 4.6 CV 20.7

WINTER SKY NCWGA REGISTERED LAMBS:

ANI(Leonid X Anya moorit ewe) AFD 22.1 SD 4.5 CV 20.5

CAPTAIN(Forrest X Amaretto half-poll shaela gul ram)AFD 21.6 SD 4.3 CV 20.1

ELLE(Forrest X Sahra black gul ewe) AFD 23.5 SD 4.7 CV 19.9

FOXTROT(Leonid X Calypso musket ewe)AFD 23.5 SD 5.1 CV 21.7

GENEVA(Forrest X Loretta black ewe)AFD 21.4 SD 4.9 CV 22.7

GRACELAND(Cointreau X Nissa dark brown ewe)AFD 20.7 SD 5.0 CV 24.2

KAHLUA(Cointreau X Kir fawn gul ewe)AFD 20.9 SD 6.6 CV 31.4

KODACHROME(Leonid X Khaya HST moorit horned ram)AFD 20.4 SD 4.4 CV 21.7

SKATER(Cowboy X Breathe spotted half-poll grey kat ram)AFD 21.8 SD 4.2 CV 19.2

Meghan & Bandit

My daughter Meghan has been taking riding lessons for the past six years off and on. This past year she was fortunate enough to find a pony club instructor just fifteen minutes south of our farm. Within a month of taking lessons down at that farm, she became totally smitten with their new acquisition "Bandit". He is an eight year old pinto pony who is solid as a rock, surefooted and somewhat green when it comes to anything involving dressage. With numerous lessons under several different instructors and a lot of work through the winter months out in the snow filled arena, Meghan and Bandit are beginning to come together. This fall Bandit will be moving into a stable with an indoor arena, so Meghan will have even more opportunity to work with him. Stay tuned.

TENNYSON DAUGHTER--Kinsey

This is a rare opportunity to own a Tennyson daughter. My barn is crowded and I already have a black full sister to Kinsey I'll be A.I.'ing this winter, so she is available to a fiber home. She is NCWGA registered. Her dam is a Jamie F1 ewe out of Rarebriar Kiss Me Kate. Kinsey has a perfect tail and lovely crimpy, modified moorit fleece that is consistent from front to back. She comes from some of my favorite lines. $100.00 OBO. Can be delivered to parts of MI and/or WI at no additional cost. Also have a pure black Forrest(21 micron second fleece)daughter who is out of Tennyson's dam for sale. $150.00 for the pair of ewe lambs. Both growthy enough to breed this season. The pair have SOLD. Thanks Barb.

DANCING ANGELS JUNO--SOLD

Juno is a daughter of TX Twincreeks Court N Spark(Adagio X CH/MCH Critter Creek Sparkles)out of Dancing Angels Temptation(Twincreeks WB Rain Beau X South Campus Temperance). This line is excellent for udder attachment, teat size and placement. Temptation already has a son who has two CH legs as a yearling. Juno is solid, square and growthy and ready to breed. She has a very calm, lovely disposition. She is available at a fall sale price of $150 open, or $225 bred to Megapixel. Delivery to parts of MI or WI is possible. E-mail upwintersky@yahoo.com for more photos of Juno and her dam.

TX Twincreeks PDF Megapixel--Price Reduced

A two year old son of dual champion TX Twincreeks Madam Butterfly(Weisbaden X Twink's Pixie)and sired by CH Pecan Hollow Dance Fever(Roshasharn sire and CH dam)Megapixel will be available to go to a new home as soon as he has bred some does this October. Delivery to lower MI or parts of WI can be arranged. Megapixel's sire and dam both classified EX. He has developed into a very long, level, stretchy individual with outstanding legset and overall look. He has a pleasant disposition. $275 OBO.

Wintertime Liz--SOLD

Liz is one of the few Wintertime Landslide(smooth polled)daughters in the country. Her dam twinned this year with a gorgeous black ewe lamb, Itasca, who is remaining down in WI, and Liz(modified moorit)who came north. They are half-sisters to Blues and Jazz who both tested in the low/low 20's as lambs and Ruby who tested 21 as a two year old. This line is exemplary for fiber and nice type. Meghan is looking forward to crossing Liz with one of her Forrest/Ruby sons this fall.

Wintertime Aretha and Winter Sky Ani

Aretha is sired by Wintertime Blues(87.5% UK lines)who now resides at Sheltering Pines. Her dam is Winter Sky Alafair who is also slated to go to Sheltering Pines. She has Allie's personality and is always just behind you when you are coming and going waiting for some affection.

Ani is equally gregarious and is sired by Winter Sky Leonid(F1 Orion)and out of Winter Sky Anya who is a very lovely Sandstone daughter. Her fleece is already exquisite, so we anticipate good things from her in the future.

WINTER SKY CAPTAIN

Meghan and I partner with a wonderful shepherdess in SW Wisconsin at Firth of Fifth Acres(www.finer-fleeces.com). We have about a dozen ewes down there that lamb out as well as Meghan's ultra-fine black gulmoget ram Forrest. It is always exciting to go down there to sort through the newest additions at weaning time and select a few to come north for breeding season. This year was the ultimate fiber experience, as we used Forrest along with a couple very fine F1 ram lambs.

Captain was one of the last to be evaluated and I couldn't believe just how soft and crimpy/locky he is. I wish everyone could put their hands on him. He is so soft I actually picked him up and rubbed my face all over his body. Because I kept thinking "chenille", I decided he had to named Captain. He already has a breeding pen reserved in his name for this fall.

BROTHERS

Sons of Wintertime Black Forrest and Wintertime Ruby--my daughter's favorite ram and ewe which both tested in the 21 range as two year olds mid-side. Two very different but very interesting ram prospects.

THANK YOU COINTREAU!!

SK8TER BOI & KODACHROME

Several years ago I had the enormous pleasure of seeing the first yuglet katmoget in North America born on my farm--Skater Boy. One of his daughters was retained and her daughter produced a grey version this spring. In honor of his illustrious great-grandsire he has been christened Sk8ter Boi.

The very same year Skater Boy was born we had a moorit smirslet ram lamb born named Chrome. His granddaughter in our flock bred to an Orion F1 produced a very nice ram lamb with similar coloring this spring, so he was christened Kodachrome. Both these promising ram lambs will be used in our breeding program this fall.a>

LAMBING STATS FOR 2008

Winter Sky Tennyson(NCWGA): Bred to two ewes produced three lambs--Black polled ram and moorit blettet ewe twins and single black horned ram.

Wintertime Thriller(NASSA) bred to one ewe produced black krunet ewe lamb & black polled ram(third generation.

Winter Sky Cowboy(NCWGA)bred to four ewes produced:Fawn smirslet katmoget ram, grey HST kat ewe, moorit yuglet mirkface sokket ram, and grey kat HST ram. Total 3 rams/1 ewe all spotted)

Winter Sky Leonid(NCWGA)bred to four ewes produced: moorit and moorit HST twin ewes, blettet musket ewe and moorit ram with moonspot, twin moorit ewes, and smirslet moorit ram and moorit krunet ewe. (2 rams/5 ewes--four spotted)

Winter Sky Cointreau(NCWGA)bred to six ewes produced: HST moorit gulmoget horned ram, dark brown ewe, HST moorit gulmoget ewe, black gulmoget horned ram, moorit krunet ewe and moorit gulmoget ewe. Total 2 rams/4 ewes(four gulmoget)

Wintertime Blues(NASSA)bred to one ewe produced: grey kat ewe and black horned ram. He was also bred to at least four other ewes and produced dark brown offspring in addition to blacks and grey kats.

Wintertime Black Forrest(NASSA)bred to nine ewes produced: black gulmoget twin ewe and ram, modified moorit scurred gulmoget ram & horned smirslet moorit ram, moorit ram, moorit twin ram and ewe, black gulmoget ram and black ewe, black gulmoget twin ewes, moorit gulmoget ram, grey gul/kat ram & ewe and black gulmoget ewe triplets, flecket ewe and black ewe. Total of 8 rams/9 ewes(8 gulmogets--2 gulmoget/katmogets)

Wintertime Landslide(polled NASSA)bred to two ewes produced: black & mioget krunet twin ewes, moorit bielset ewe.

Firthoffifth Aman(NASSA)bred to three ewes produced: twin moorit rams, single black ewe, moorit ewe and mioget horned ram.

2008 Lambs

Wintertime Jumping Jack Flash(NCWGA ram)--Wintertime Kiera X Winter Sky Space Cowboy. NFS. Dam is for sale for $100. Extremely crimpy, crisp white fleece and nice disposition.
Winter Sky Cuz I Can--(NCWGA ewe)Winter Sky Space Cowboy X Winter Sky Kiss This. Sold.

Wintertime Wedgewood(NCWGA ram)--Winter Sky Space Cowboy X Wintertime China Silk. Sold.
Winter Sky Manhattan(NCWGA ram)--Winter Sky Cointreau X Winter Sky Lorrie Morgan. $150. SOLD
Wintertime Red Velvet(NASSA ram)--Wintertime Black Forrest X Wintertime Ruby. Both parents tested 21 microns at last rib their second Yocom-McColl test. Red has a moorit smirslet brother. NFS.
Winter Sky ram lamb(NCWGA)--Winter Sky Leonid(Orion F2)X Winter Sky Khaya. NFS. His sister is a moorit krunet. Sister is SOLD. Winter Sky Graceland(NCWGA dark brown ewe)--Winter Sky Cointreau X Winter Sky Pianissimo. NFS. Dam is for sale for $125. "Nissa" is SOLD.

FIRST LAMBS OF SPRING

Winter Sky Tennyson X Winter Sky Kismet. Dark moorit ewe lamb and her black brother who appears to have no horns. Many more are on their way.

NIGERIAN DWARF GOATS FOR SALE

Dancing Angels Winsome--White with black tail tip doeling out of Twincreeks ADG Aria and sired by CH/MCH Dancing Angels Cool Your Jets. $200. SOLD

Dancing Angels Little Voice--Three year old heavily splashed dark buckskin doe sired by Twincreeks WB Rain Beau and out of Sugarcreek PT Show Girl(full sister to ARMCH/GCH Sugarcreek PT Show Tunes *M). This doe has dairy character, charm, levelness, correct legs and a very nicely attached udder with proper teat placement. Reluctantly offered for sale to a show home only as we feel she needs to be in the ring being seen. $400. SOLD

TX Twincreeks ADG Aria--Yearling light buckskin doe sired by Twincreeks Adagio X Twincreeks PDF Sarafina. Numerous champion lines. Very dairy, loose-skinned, flat-ribbed doe with nice body capacity. Had triplets unassisted and is a calm, patient mother. Udder looks promising, but it will be some time before we can evaluate it as she is raising kids right now. $350. SOLD after kids are weaned.

Dancing Angels Masquerade--CH/GCH Dancing Angels Cool Your Jets X Dancing Angels Little Voice(Twincreeks WB Rain Beau X Sugarcreek PT Show Girl). Black and white yearling first freshener with a beautifully attached udder...long and dairy. $350. SOLD Her daughter sired by Twincreeks Court N Spark is available for $250. White with chocolate buckskin splashes. SOLD Dancing Angels Decibel--TX Twincreeks PDF Megapixel(CH Pecan Hollow Dance Fever X MCH/CH Twincreeks WB Madame Butterfly *M). Black with white doe kid born in mid-January--$200. SOLD Dancing Angels Andante--CH/MCH Dancing Angels Cool Your Jets X Twincreeks ADG Aria(Twincreeks Adagio X Twincreeks PDF Sarafina 5*M)Blue eyed triplet buckling(three days old in photo). $250. Dancing Angels Jet Blue--CH/MCH Dancing Angels Cool Your Jets X Twincreeks ADG Aria--Blue eyed triplet very dairy doeling--$300.