Itsumo Mawaru

Attention readers. I have an announcement to make.

I love my little boys! Look at Volcano God! Those tender loving eyes! That pink nose! (Yes, it changed from black to pink, how magical!) That timid but inquisitive attitude! That frosted mouth and white ears! That soft and luxurious fleece! And best of all, he’s now in the mood to come and say hello (if you don’t spook him by moving suddenly) and accept pets and snuggles. I feel confident that I have picked a great herd sire. He’s like a super better nicer version of Frankie.

Who would have ever thought sheep would give me so much pleasure? Look at little Peebs. Well he’s not so little anymore! I can still pick him up, barely, but the next time I do so I’ll probably end up injuring myself. He’s still as full of love as always, and he’ll tell you when you aren’t snuggling him enough. Look at that gorgeous fleece. It’s crimpy and jet black at its base, although I did see one grey hair mixed in so I expect he’s not a pure super black. This is the kind of sheep I want to raise, personable but not aggressive, soft and loving and happy.

And my golden boy, Price. The timidest of them all, he still won’t come up for pets. But since his older brother is, I expect he will soon. His horns are growing faster than Volcano God’s. He also has a chocolate brown nose. How can twins from the same mom and dad be so different! This is part of the wonders of Shetland sheep, their natural color spectrum and varied genetics means your sheep aren’t carbon copies of each other.

I honestly had no clue how happy these guys would make me. No matter how you feel, no matter what the weather is like, these guys are always there ready to distract you from your worries. They have no worries of their own. They live happy fun-filled lives. In fact, I’m pretty sure sheep are happy batteries, they save up their daily happiness and share it with you when you snuggle them. I never knew that my life was incomplete without these sheep. Now that they are with me, I could never think of letting them go.

This is Ewenique Franklin #S28147 June 5 2008, a grey katmoget ram. He is for sale or trade.

This year he sired three rams, two twins (a moorit or dark brown and a grey) and a single (black).

I call him Frankie cause he reminds me of one of those guys from the movie Grease. He’s a bit of a punk, a bit of a rough guy, and you can certainly never trust your back around him at all. But when you’re safely behind the barn fence, he loves to have a scratch and a snack. Please don’t mind his scruffiness, it’s fleece that I have yet to trim.

I would prefer to trade him for other Shetland ewes, preferably registered ones, but I’m willing to consider non-registered purebreed Shetlands or Angora goats. I might also consider other fine wool sheep breeds.

If you are interested in Franklin, please contact me at meaganhanes@gmail.com, or pass this on to anyone who you think might be interested

Photo taken by Willow Garden Shetlands.

Look at this pretty girl! This is Windwater Rolo, a 3 year old mioget gulmoget Shetland. She will be joining the farm in a few months,  in exchange for my spinning services. I’m super excited because not only does she look awesome, her genetics are a completely different branch compared to my other Shetlands, so she will produce some really interesting offspring in her many years on my farm. We will be visiting her and the rest of Willow Garden farms in two weeks’ time so I will have more photos then!

What a cutie! Power Blaster the ram lamb came into this world on May 1st at 7:45am.

Mama looks proud, doesn’t she! That smile on my face is because the birth was textbook-perfect. Happy times!

More details and pictures can be found on the HPRF blog.

It looks like Ginger Rogers will be having her lamb(s) within the next few hours! My prediction of Wednesday 4pm was off by less than 3 days… not so bad considering we didn’t know her exact date of conception.

I noticed yesterday that Maggie’s udder is filling up, so she will be having her lamb probably within the next two weeks. Her pregnancy has been much less in-your-face than Ginger Rogers’ was, as Ginger Rogers is a very small Shetland ewe.

Here’s hoping everything goes well! Pictures shall be posted as soon as possible