Fuzzy Wuzzy

The sheep were finally released from their sweaters by the shearer on Thursday, June 18 between and in bouts of rain. I've pulled off the worse of the farm relics and bagged them up. We still have last year's 3 fleeces (Andes Mint, Eve, and Kayla) that were lightly washed.

The 2009 Shetland fleeces in order are Andes Mint, Eve, Kayla, Martina and Valentino. Click for closeups.

I also organized the raw cashmere combed out this year, weighed, bagged, and labeled it so that it doesn't get confused with the Samoyed down from last year! The small sandwich size ziploc of oat colored cashmere is 1/8 oz sample. The larger gallon sized ziploc of white is 1 oz. We ended up with 3 and 3/8 oz off of Jack and 5 and 5/8 oz off of Milly and Molly with a bit from Jack.

Unfolding of the Shetland Colors

I've always had a fascination with color and pattern (former graphic designer) so Shetlands were an obvious choice for the pasture. I absolutely adore their spunky personality, easy to handle size, and all the mystery and intrique of their genetics. Having a Swedish and Scots-Irish background sealed the deal. Learning to felt , spin and weave (maybe even knit and crochet with ease someday) will just be icing on the cake.

These photos were taken a while back but this is the first chance I've had to post them. All the babes are doing fine and getting nice and fat on grass. The little white ram lamb is quite the cutie and has a big personality to match, just like dad.

The little black buckling goat is probably wondering why he can't manage to baa like all the other little kids! If his grandma would hurry up and have her babies he wouln't feel so left out. It has just GOT to be any day now.