Winter Snowflakes

Spring was almost here! However, it seems that another snow storm has taken away that hope. At least mud season has ended temporarily. In the past few weeks we have kept ourselves busy on the farm.
I have acquired my own pair of electric shears, and have endeavored to shear my own animals. Three out of the six have been sheared for the spring, and they look absolutely adorable!

I am thrilled with the fleeces! Eloise has this beautiful bluish tint in all the lighter areas of her body. Melody is still on the smaller side, but her fleece was quite lovely as well. I am excited to see how their yearling fleeces grow in!  I still have three ewes left to shear, and they will get done the next sunny snow free day.

In more sad news, our ram Vaughan, is now in our freezer. He was a beautiful boy, and a wonderful ram. However, we have a new ram coming into the flock for this breeding season. We sheared Vaughan and let him have one day in the paddock.

 

Eloise posing for the camera

Poppy is an adorable little girl!

The snow filled up the run!

Wrong side of the fence Indy!

The snow is a little deep for the dogs

We also have lambs coming in the next few weeks, Bea looks as if she should be any time now! And the flock is doing wonderful, and enjoying the snow!

Winter Wonderland

There is plenty of snow covering the ground, and needless to say, the sheep have been loving it! Winter has been uneventful for the most part. Harmony has been sold and is happily living on another farm as a pet. Vaughan has been in with the girls since October so we should have lambs within a few months! Its hard to believe that its been so long since the last show and I can't wait for the season to start up again. We have ordered around 15 chicks for the spring! A mixture of cochins and a few other clean legged birds, the one I am most excited about is the standard sultan who should bring a little bit of comic relief to our flock!


The three lambs enjoying hay on a snowy day!



Eloise is as mischievous as ever, yet she is beautiful and I can't wait to get my hands on her fleece!  



Izzy and Minnie bonding! Both should be lambing this spring!



Minnie posing for the camera



Indy isn't the biggest fan of the snow blower



Izzy, Minnie, and Bea all enjoying the fresh snowfalll



Vaughan being adorable



Izzy with snow still on her face from nuzzling the ground!



I love New England

September Fun!

HARMONY and VAUGHAN

This year I have two sheep for sale. I probably should have put them up sooner but it has been constantly busy. Harmony is a ewe lamb born Aprin 25. Her sire is RF Vaughan and her mother is Hythe Trilbee(I call her Bea). Vaughan is a shaela gulmoget and Bea is a musket blaget. Harmony is the sweetest little thing. She is more than happy to climb into your lap or bug you until you give her the attention she needs. She has a sweet face and a soft fleece. She is a light gray, very light. She has a fine crimp that has some pretty luster. Because of a personality she could be a great pet or 4-H project. Since she was born in late april she is on the small side but she has a great conformation and a sturdy correct body.

Vaughan is my Ram at the moment. He is a beautiful boy and a teddy bear. He has a very sweat dispostition and I have never had a problem with him. I will be using him for breeding this year but need to find a new ram for next year and have decided not to keep him over the winter this year. He is a shaela gulmoget with a great horn set and a stunning face. He has produced all of my lambs this year. His fleece is very crimpy and short.

If anyone is interested in either Harmony or Vaughan they can email me at Montana@Airey.us. I can get extra pictures, fleece samples, etc.

Sheep, Shows, and busy days

While I have been too lazy to post three fairs have come and gone. Two of which have had some of the largest shetland classes I have participated in and this past weekend at the Bolton Fair we had the largest class in both junior and open shows! North East Youth Sheep Show was the first, happening in late July, and it was a blast. We had nine different exibitiors from Mass and New York!

Minnie in Fit and Show

Minnie in yearling ewe looking lovely

look at all those ewe lambs! Eloise is third in from the right and Poppy is hiding second from last
Eloise got third place which was wonderful with so much compition! Poppy didn't do as well but lately has redeemed herself. She was nervous bercause NEYSS was her first show and was trying to stand closer to the ground causing a cow hock disaster.
Next we attended Cheshire fair with only two of the sheep(we hadn't gotten our papers in on time and were only allowed that amount). Cheshire was a bit of a dissapointment because we were put against Lincolns in A.O.B wool which didn't result well, but the fairs wonderful atmoshpere made up for it by miles.
The most recent fair, The Bolton Fair, was this past weekend. It was wonderful as always. In the junior show Vaughan got first place in yearling ram, Eloise got second place in ewe lambs and Poppy placed sixth out of (about 11 shetlands). Minnie didn't do so well and was placed at the back of the line in fifth place. I have found that her wool, as lovely as it is washed and spun is much corser on her. At the moment her lamb fleece is waiting to be spun and made into mittens! The ram lamb I am leasing for the show season took third.

Me and Eloise in leadline

Look at how big this ewe lamb class is!

Eloise in second place of the Ewe lamb class

Eloise is finally behaving and standing beautifully!

Vaughan looking regal in Yearling Ram

I also took second place in leadline which suprised me because Eloise didn't like the scarf and was on her worst behavior. In the open show my mom showed Melody and got fourth place with her! It was a wonderful suprise, she is much smaller than most of the other ewe's due to her later birth date but I love her fleece. Poppy was right behind her in fifth and Eloise was further down the line. Vaugahan got third place this time around, and Minnie placed fifth again but this time she was ahead of two other ewes. All in all it was an awsome show.
In the exibit hall I took nine blues and two reds. I also recieved the President's award for my entries which was a great honor!
On other notes the flock has been doing well through all this weather. We actually fenced in the bottom of the horse fence and now the girls have the whole paddock to graze on. They are very happy.

Poppy is next to Marble, hopefully not being drooled on to much. Eloise is farther back on the right followed by Minnie, Harmony and Izzy

Vaughan looks so handsome!

Vaughan hanging in the medow

Harmony and Melody in front and Poppy behind Harmony on the left and Eloise behind Melody on the right

Eloise has yet to grab the idea of a personal bubble and if she can get attention she will :)

R to L Poppy Harmony Melody. I am quite pleased with my crop this year each one is personable and beautiful!

A Sunny Friday!

The lambs have been growing like little weeds! Each one has developed a different personality... Eloise, the most obnoxious one(which I say with love), follows me around like a puppy trying to jump all over me and eat everything in sight. Poppy, is lovey and jumpy but dosn't seem to be as entertained by me as her sister. Melody, is sweet calm and wonderful more like her mother than father, she is often contented to lie down next to me and graciously let me scritch her back! Harmony is the spaz of the group and is constantly jumping this way and that. Alltogether I am really pleased with the crop and will have a hard time seeing anyone go...
Spring is beautiful this year! The trees are in bloom and the gardens have been filled with tulips, peonies,and daphodils for a while now. The chicks are growing up well and it looks like we might have three blues and one black!

Eloise finds the new bench a great play toy! While her sister prefers to stay on the ground.

A rare shot of Eloise standing still while facing the camera

Melody is such a standout next to her black colored siblings! I love her facial markings

I have recently realized that Harmony is actually a gulmoget! She apears to have a shaela fleece with gray haunches and tummy.

Harmony and Melody taking a nap

Corey looks so peaceful resting under the lilac

MORE LAMBS!!!!!

Early this morning my final pregnant ewe gave birth. This time I was ready though. Unlike Izzy, Bea dropped and it was increadibly obvious! So I got up extra early to check and see what presents awaited me... twin ewe lambs. Which will make 4 ewes and no boys! Which is ironic because close friends who also have shetlands have had 12 ram lambs and 1 ewe lamb this year. That fifty fifty chance seems to be unefective. The names are tenitive HOWEVER, I am pretty sure that they will be Melody and Nova. (Nova is the one im not sure about. She might end up being Hamony). Melody is a brown\moorit gulmoget with a gorgous face just like Eloise. Nova\Harmony is black at the moment, not sure how that will turn out, with small white spots on her body, and facial markings. Both are sweet as can be!

Melody with mom Bea in the back

Melody on the left and Nova on the right

Nova trying to escape the picture. I have found that it is extremly hard to get them to stand still long enough for a good shot! Although Melody seems to pose more than Nova.

Nova taking a nap

Eloise has gotten so big! She couldn't stand not having part of the spotlight so she insisted that I get at least one good picture of her...

Eloise and Poppy nursing on a very complacent Izzy.

Eloise and Poppy have grown up fast. Eloise seems to be the most personable at the moment, her hobbies include chewing obsessivly on everything in her path(mostly me and any garmets I have on) and running around with a combination of boinking, hopping, and leapping. Poppy is quite happy with the ocasional running match and spends the rest of her time lazing in the sun.

LAMBS!

This sunday Izzy finally lambed. After months of waiting they were finally here. Two little girls who are perfect and adorable in everyway. Today is their first day playing with the rest of the sheep, as I let them out with my two other ewes and everyone seems to be getting along great. Both are gulmoget, but neither of them look to be black or shaela. I believe, looking at the minimal amount of wool they have that they will be either a gray or an emsket, somewhere inbetween mom and dad. Poppy has the blettet facial markings just like mom, but hers look like eyebrows. And Eloise has what I believe is a flecket facial marking. Up until this point I hadn't realized that gulmogets could have addtionial markings but I guess they do! Izzy has been being a great mother, and despite her irritation with Minnie, for existing, things have gone smothly.

The twins when we found them in the morning

Eloise on the left and Poppy on the right. Pooppy loves to sleep on that rock:)

Eloise behind Izzy

Poppy

Eloise is in the back and Poppy is up front. (Poppy is a great headrest)

Poppy dosn't like to pose for pictures, but were working on getting a good head shot...

Bea looks like she is getting ready to lamb, her colostrum is in her udder and I am really exited to see how her babies turn out. And I honestly think Minnie is super exited to have the babies around because now she will have someone to play with! They were chacing her earlier and she was having a great time.