Ray Charles

I may already have shared these pictures with you ... but I just love this guy ... so ... I'm posting him today anyway ... :-)

He is Dailley Ray Charles ... and he is emsket. He looks dark brown, but when you part his fleece, even this short, it is that pewter colour that is emsket. Lovely!

His fleece was about 5 inches long, and quite even with a tight crimp from neck to britch. I had hoped to get it micron tested ... but it sold to a handspinner before I had the chance to get a sample! It is nice when that happens ... because I know that my 'hand' is getting better from working with so many handspinners ... :-)

This guy, I hope, will get a chance to add some new genetics to my modified colour ewes this fall. I have a LOT of emsket and mioget ewes out there, but they are all from the same three or four lines. Fresh blood will be nice!

He is so square and correct ... and really wide horns. He will grow into a very striking ram at maturity.

Updated and Expanded Sale List

Mature Ewes

1. WillowGarden Celine Dion - a fine fleeced moorit ewe, out of Cherrington Elizabeth (fine fleeced black ewe) and WillowGarden Bob Hope (moorit gulmoget ram). This ewe has great genetic lines, wonderful conformation, and a nice fleece ... $200 ... SOLD

2. WillowGarden Ella Fitzgerald ... a black gulmoget yearling ewe, out of SheltrgPines Shaelyn (black ewe) and WillowGarden Bob Hope (moorit gulmoget ram). A great opportunity to add gulmoget genetics into your flock with this nice little gulmoget ewe ... $300 ... SOLD

3. WillowGarden Lena Horn ... black krunet yearling ewe, out of Prairie Ciorstan (musket, carrying the modifier) and WillowGarden Cary Grant (shaela yuglet). A lovely ewe, with great genetics ... $250 ... SOLD

4. WillowGarden Shirley Eikhard ... a yearling black smirslet iset out of Cherrington Esther and Wooly Clyde. This is a very correct ewe, with spotting genetics, and some interesting lines ... $200 ... SOLD

5. WillowGarden Peggy Lee ... a moorit yuglet flecket sokket yearling ewe out of SheltrgPines Jacob Two Too (moorit/white yuglet flecket) and Wind Swept Topaz (silky moorit). This ewe has a primitive fleece that has a medium soft handle, but is STRIKING in appearance ... with a personality to match ... $350 ... SOLD

6. WillowGarden Sophie Tucker ... a mioget gulmoget yearling, out of WillowGarden Zazu Pitts,(emsket) and WillowGarden Spencer Tracy (mioget gulmoget). A lovely ewe, that didn’t breed as a lamb. Gulmoget genetics, combined with modified colour genetics - a sure fire winner ... $300 ... SOLD

7. WillowGarden Victoria Spivey ... a black krunet gulmoget yearling, out of Willowgarden Bette Davis (black krunet twin ewe) and WillowGarden Montgomery Clift (moorit gulmoget). This ewe is a doll, very square and is both spotted and gulmoget ... $300 ... SOLD

2006 Ewe Lambs For Sale List

1. WillowGarden Cress … a musket lamb out of a bred ewe recently purchased from the Dailley flock. This ewe is very square and correct … and 100% Dailley. Her dam and twin are mioget, so she is, at the least, carrying modified colour genetics. The dam has one of the nicest fleeces I have ever seen … $300

2. WillowGarden Shallot … a black ewe lamb with interesting genetics and great conformation and fleece, out of WillowGarden Joan Crawford (black gulmoget) and WillowGarden Cliff Carlisle (mioget gulmoget). Although she may appear to be a ‘plain Jane’, this little ewe has dynamite genetics and would be a great addition to any flock … $300

3. WillowGarden Parsnip … a moorit ewe lamb, with a heavier, but acceptable tail … out of WillowGarden Alberta Hunter (moorit smirslet flecket gulmoget) and WillowGarden Cliff Carlisle. This lamb has near perfect conformation, and will carry both spotting and modified colour genetics … $300

4. WillowGarden Hazelnut … a silver grey katmoget ewe (no phaeo) out of WillowGarden Carmen Miranda (Cherrington and Claystone lines) and Great Plains King Arthur (F2 Minder fawn katmoget). This is a really nice ewe lamb with TONS of rarer genetics. She is a GEM … $400 ... Sale Pending

5. WillowGarden Rhubarb … a black ewe out of WillowGarden Shirley Eikhard (Cherrington and Mountain Niche lines) and Whistle Stop Lerwick (a white F1 Drum Jings ram). Here is a great little ewe that is an F2 (25% UK genetics) … $350

6. WillowGarden Arugula … a modified black (maybe dark brown) ewe lamb, out of Juneal Shock (Cherrington lines) and Great Plains Blair (an exquisite double F3 grey ram, currently owned by Nick Jeeves). This lamb has a heavier, but acceptable tail. Her dam and sire both have VERY soft fleeces. A ‘can’t loose ewe lamb’ … $350

7. WillowGarden Sage ... a grey ewe lamb with a minor krunet (indicating that she at least carries spotting genetics), out of Hopeful Inky (bluer grey bleset) and WillowGarden Duke Ellington (emsket smirslet). This ewe has a great fleece and can throw both spots and modified colours ... $300

8. WillowGarden Casava ... a grey/white yuglet flecket ewe lamb out of WillowgGarden Sarah Vaughn, and WillowGarden Duke Ellington. This ewe lamb is wildly spotted, carries non-Ag, and can throw modified coloured lambs ... $450 ... Sale Pending

9. WillowGarden Luffa ... an emsket ewe lamb with an ‘unusual’ large off colour spot on her side ... out of SheltrgPines Hebe (emsket) and WillowGarden Duke Ellington (emsket smirslet). This one, again, has spots and modified colour genetics ... $400 ... Sale Pending

10. WillowGardenCilantro ... an emsket krunet ewe lamb, out of WillowGarden Elsie Marlie (fawn/mioget krunet) and WillowGarden Duke Ellington (emsket krunet ewe). Another ewe with excellent conformation, spotting, and those elusive modified colour genetics ... $400

11. WillowGarden Granny Smith ... a very square, crimpy and soft grey ewe lamb, out of Great Plains Isabell (F1 Greyling katmoget) and Great Plains King Arthur (fawn katmoget, F2 Minder). This ewe is exquisite, and will bring the best of the UK genetics on this continent to your flock ... $450 ... Sale Pending

12. WillowGarden Chick Pea ... an F2 grey ewe lamb, out of Great Plains William the C (F1 Greyling, and one of only two F1 rams in Canada) and WillowGarden Sophia Loren (even fleeced moorit). Another outstanding ewe lamb, with rare UK genetics ... $350

13. WillowGarden Star Fruit ... a black krunet double F3 (25% UK genetics) ewe lamb out of Dailley Aphrodite (moorit yuglet flecket sokket - my most spotted Dailley ewe) and Great Plains Blair, a grey (bluer grey) ram with an amazing fleece. Spotting and UK genetics rolled into one ... $350

14. WillowGarden Buttercup ... a darling mioget ewe lamb with a minor krunet out of Bono Creek Cleome (nor fading moorit ewe with an AWESOME fleece) and Willowgarden Cliff carlisle (mioget gulmoget with a VERY soft fleece). This is a line that I tend to keep all ewe lambs from ... but ... $400

15. WillowGarden Matisia ... what a doll this one is ... a mioget yuglet sokket flecket (likely gulmoget as well) ewe lamb with a lovely fleece and a square carriage ... out of WillowGarden Carmen McRae (mioget yglet flecket sokket gulmoget) and Willowgarden Duke Ellington. I have retained her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother ... $500 ... SOLD

Sheep, Pigs and Dogs

Well, I got a bit of a fright this morning when I went to the barn with my bucket of slop for my pigs. They were no where in sight! Normally they seem to sense that I am coming and run screaming to great me, but not today.

Lately these summer guests have been viewing fences as a sort of suggestion as to where they should be, but they never have wandered far away from the sheep, so I haven't worried. They seem to know that where there are sheep ... there is food not far away ... :-) It had rained all night, and I was sure that my pigs were lost, alone and shivering somewhere.

In desparation ... I called them ... 'Pig, Pig, Pig' ... and waited. Finally pigs, dogs and sheep came pouring out of the back barn! I wish I had had my camera there to get a picture. Kinda cute.

BUT ... they do have there OWN pig stye ... and I will be 'encouraging' them to use it after this weekend ... when I put up an ELECTRIC nose height wire around where I think they should be ... hehehe

New Sales List Coming Soon!

I have had to cut even deeper.

My goal is to cut the flock back to 65 ewes (from 75) for this year, as I turn 57 years old ... and then to 55 the next year when I turn 58 ... and then to 45 when I turn 59 ... and finally to 35 for the year I turn 60. I'll have to stop cutting back then as how will I manage 12 breeding groups with fewer than 35 ewes ... hehehe

Anyway ... this means more sheep have to go ... as much as I want to keep them!

I have a sales list ready ... and will publish it here in a day or two when I can get more pictures ... but it will include gulmogets ... katmogets ... wildly spotteed ... modified colours (both mioget and emsket) ... and exquisite UK genetics. There are seven yearling ewes, and 15 ewe lambs on the revised list.

If you'd like to see the list, without pictures ahead of time, email me and I'll send it to you. I just want to sell these sheep to good shepherds ... :-)

Exciting Times Are Coming!

Well ... it is time to tell you all about my Birthday /Father's day gift from my daughter and my son in law. I am a strange man ... or so some would think ... but there were just two things on my wish list ... a hammock, which Gene bought for me ... and straws of semen, which my daughter and son in law contibuted to for me. I wanna tell yah ... when I opened the envelope and saw the shocked looking picture of a ram with a 'bubble' that said ... "You want me to do WHAT - in WHERE" ... and then when a straw fell out of the envelope and landed on the floor ... I laughed hysterically ... I knew that my daughter both loved, and understood her 'old man' ... hehehe


Anyway ... A long while ago, a few of us decided that we wanted to get some UK genetics into our Canadian flock ... so we agreed to share a semen import if it could be worked out. In the mean time, I was able to add a LOT of really quality UK lines to my flock through a purchase from Carol Arthur in Alberta (Great Plains sheep that you will see talked about here).

Anyway ... the importation has gone ahead and I have decided to stick to my commitment add the new UK genetics, along with what I already have in my flock. Soooo ... I know own a 25% share of the Todhill Hornblower straws. Hornblower is from Lenice Bell's flock in Scotland. He apparently has a soft, even crimpy fleece, with few white fibres at four years of age. His scrapie genotype is ARR/ARQ.

The other ram, Toddhill Glayva, is also from Lenice's flock, he has great conformation and a great fleece as well, but has no white fibres at 6 years of age, and is ARR.ARR, AND he also may carry modified genetics. He is a light moorit ram, and I own a 50% share of his straws.

Exciting times ... continue to happen here in Ontario ... but ... since I am now keeping more mature ewes ... my sales list for yearlings and lambs has grown!

I will post about that list separately. There will be some REAL surprises on that list let me tell you! (If you want an advanced copy, ask soon).

I just wanted you all to know about my soon to be ... adventure into AI!

Life is GRAND!

Sorry, Folks ... :-)

Well, I sure do feel genuinely cared about ... :-) You wouldn't believe the number of emails ... and even phone calls to see if I was OK, since it has been a week since I posted here. I will TRY to do better. Last week was a BUSY week at school, what with it being our last week with students ... and I had to work the whole week. I'm not sure how I used to do that ... but ... I didn't have almost 185 sheep back then ... hehehe.
Anyway, work, report cards, farm, Gene away, and a terrible battle with a cold (with the cold winning most of the week) just had me too tired to want to update my blog. SORRY!

So ... what has happened since? So many things!

On the weekend, Matt, my 'hired hand' (the kid across the road who makes it possible for me to do this), and I wormed the flock and did the first vaccinations for the lambs. My sister was here and we took the time to do a thorough evaluation of the lambs and make detailed notes. I am SOOOOOOOO happy with the lambs this year! ... but ... there will be more ewe lambs and yearling ewes going onto my sale list either later today or tomorrow. For reasons that I'll explain later in the week, I have to keep more older ewes, so ... the younger ones have to go to keep the numbers at the point were we have the space.

THEN ... we started our annual battle against the Canadian Thistle. We have used Round-up, and vinegar, and finally resorted to hoe, shovel and lawn mower. By the end of Wednesday, I VOW that there will not be a single thistle left to spread its seeds!

We could use some rain as the pasture and lawn is turning crisp. Looks like a good chance of rain tomorrow, and the sheep that are sold will start leaving the farm within the week, which will ease the pressure on the pastures.

The thistle pictures are not mine ... and don't ANY of you DARE to think that they are beautiful ... or I'll hand you a hoe ... hehehe

First Broken Horn of the Season

Well, with 46 ram lambs, it was bound to happen. Box Car Willie, a mioget smirslet sokket ram out of Dailley Kate and WillowGarden Duke Ellington broke a horn! And to make it even worse, he only partially broke it and he breaks it a bit more each day. One side of his face is covered with blood no matter how often I wash him! I have tried a few times to just pull the horn off and get over with it ... but I can't bring myself to do it. Can you imagine the pain? It must be about like loosing a fingernail! So ... he gets it bathed and medicated twice a day. It gets worse every day and my goal is to have it right off by the weekend. I feel for the guy.

Box Car is a special guy, as he is Kate's last lamb. She is being retired ... 13 years old, arthritis, poor vision ... but ... attitude, spunk, personality, and an 'I can do anything that I want!' attitude. She is a family favourite. And Box Car will be as well.

Mornings and Dogs

Here are a couple of pictures of the start of a day for the sheep at Willow Garden.

We start with the treck to the back pasture, which is not visible from the house, and which has scrub brush in it. Without my dogs, I'd never let the sheep out there when I couldn't stay with them.

The first thing that happens is that both dogs do a perimeter check ... and then they crisscross the pasture until thay have ensured that everything is as it ashould be. Absolutely wonderful to watch them do this!

On the day that the cow first had the fence down, Nick stayed where the problem was ... and Kayla came and barked at me until I followed her. Then the three of us fixed the fence. It was like a scene from an old Lassie movie ... ;-)

I LOVE my dogs and can't imagine shepherding without them! You get an idea of the immenseness of Nick in these pictures. Kayla is 'normal sized'.

Off to work ... where I am providing a barbeque lunch to my class and our friends in the school community ... as my birthday gift to myself ... :-)

Anyone else considering a birthday gift, on this my 56th birthday, might wish to consider doing this on Lisa's Website ... hehehe. I'll stop with this soon ... but it is such a loving and wonderful thing that she is doing ... and the support from this blog has been good. Seems there is a lot of love here too ... :-)

Pigs and Boys

Well, 'the girls' sure are testing my sense of humour! They seem intent in getting out of their yard and pasture ... which is about five acres, by the way ... and heading for the barnyard fence closest to the house. Here they stand and squeeeeeeel until 'Papa Bill' appears. They must have VERY accurate alarm clocks as the do this at exactly 5:50 each day ... and feeding time is 6:00. Oh well ... at least they are growing. I just look at them and think ... 'smoked pork chops' ... hehehe
This little guy, WillowGarden Abraham Lincoln is growing into an amazing ram! He is a grey yuglet flecket katmoget out of WillowGarden Janis Joplin and Wind Water Sean O'Sullivan. I hope to have room to use him for breeding this Fall. If not, he will be for sale as he is too good to NOT be used!

Here is another one that is too good to not be used by someone ... WillowGarden Lima ... out of WillowGarden Cassandra Wilson and Valley Road Spencer. He is Albf/Aa, so his lambs will either be katmoget or 'solid'. He is also out of a spotted dam so he will also be carrying spots, and likely will throw lots of spots when bred to the right ewes. His fleece is crimpy, soft and even. A beautiful young man!
I am also VERY happy with the way this little guy is growing ... WillowGarden Crispin. He is out of Great PlainsGinney, a black F1 Timothy ... and Whistle Stop Lerwick, a white F1 Drum Jings. He looks to be a smaller ram, but in fact, his body is full sized but his legs are a slight bit shorter, giving him a very masculine and square look ... a look that I really like. And I like this guy a lot. He is a double F2, meaning 50% UK genetics.

Off to work ... oh ... and just in case you missed it before, here is the link to Lisa Harvey's Website ... ;-)

Colours ... and the Joy They Bring!

While you are all busy checking out Lisa's Website and trying to determine the amount that you might be able to donate to this worthwhile cause ... we'll look at pictures that show some of the colours in my flock. I am sure not a colour genetics expert, but I am having fun playing with the genetics of colour ... :-)WillowGarden Pippin is either fawn or mioget. At the moment her modified colour looks more taupe than golden, so, at the moment, I'd call her fawn. Her colour is a whole colour, as there are no white fibres to get this colour. She is out of Great Plains Tulip (fawn with Ag) and WillowGarden Duke Ellington (emsket smirslet). Her fleece looks as though it will be as wonderful as her dams!
This is just a close up of WillowGarden Matisia, a mioget yuglet socket gulmoget ewe lamb out of WillowGarden Carmen McCrae and WillowGarden Duke Ellington. Her colour is quite light, but definitely the golden mioget tones. She is a third generation mioget ewe and her lightness supports my theory that the modifier, like the spotting gene, compounds as modified sheep are bred to modified sheep.
Dailley Ray Charles came from the Dailley flock on my last visit there. He is spectacular ... good size, square and solid, wide horns, and a superb fleece. This Fall, I am hoping to put him on most of my modified sheep.
We must be close to half way through the pictures for today. I'm hoping that you won't be too tired when you are done here to check out Lisa's Website and to consider making a donation ... I feel like a PBS fund-raiser ... hehehe
WillowGarden Gala is an emsket krunet ewe lamb out of Great Plains Kilda and Duke Ellington. Looks like she will have a soft and crimpy fleece like her dams.
WillowGarden Kohlrobi is an interesting emsket krunet gulmoget ewe lamb. She is out of WillowGarden Queen Latifah, a mioget smirslet sokket gulmoget ewe, and Duke Ellington.
WillowGarden Fuji is a grey twin to Gala. She is quite light at the base, but I am going to keep her and see if there is more to her than just being Ag. She sure has an interesting tint to her fleece!
WillowGarden Butterfly McQueen, a mioget ewe, with her white, but also mioget (hidden by white) son out of Whistle Stop Lerwick, WillowGarden Hubbard.
WillowGarden Chickory, a lighter mioget ewe lamb, and her musket sister, WillowGarden Cress ... are out of Dailley Dinah Shore, a mioget ewe purchased last December as a bred ewe. Although Cress is definitely musket (Ag), she is also is Mm/Mm as well.
Juneal Shock is a ewe that I always thought was dark brown ... until she was sheared this year as a four year old ... and she is now emsket. Go figure, eh?! The two colours must be part of a continuum. So much for me yet to learn!
SheltrgPines Hebe, an emsket ewe with a BAD hair cut, is with her emsket krunet daughter, WillowGarden Luffa. Luffa has a huge 'spot' that is not white, and thus not a spot. Some folks refer to this as 'moon spotting' ... but that does nothing to explain the phenomonon. I choose to call it 'incomplete expression of pattern' and use that same 'explanation' to rationalize white sheep with small coloured spots. I'm going to chat with Dr. Sponenburg about it at the AGM.
I LOVE this little guy, WillowGarden Purslane. He is an emsket krunet ram with wonderful fleece, presence, and conformation. His dam, WillowGarden Joni Mitchell is dark brown. His sire is Duke Ellington.
I couldn't NOT post another picture of WillowGarden Papaya, a mioget ewe lamb out of WillowGarden Grace Kelly (mioget yuglet flecket sokket) and Valley Road Spencer ( a VERY fine, even and crimpy black ram). I love this lamb!
This is Dailley Iris', a mioget ewe with AWESOME fleece and conformation (my favourite ewe) and her emsket krunet ewe lamb, WillowGarden Ambrosia.
This is WillowGarden Joni Mitchell, a ewe that I consider to be dark brown. Interestingly, I am thinking that 'dark brown' is actually a black based colour. This is the colour that Shock WAS ... up until she was sheared as a four year old. Joni's emsket ram lamb, WillowGarden Purslane, was pictured earlier.
This little one, WillowGarden Bonnie Best, is a moorit ewe lamb, out of WillowGarden Little Eva and Whistle Stop Lerwick. She is about as perfect as a lamb can get ... and her colour is nice and rich!
And finally ... we reach the end ... hehehe. This is WillowGarden Buttercup, a mioget ewe lamb out of Bono Creek Cleome (mioget) and WillowGarden Cliff Carlisle (mioget gulmoget).

I hope that some of you still have enough energy left to check out Lisa's Website ... ;-)

Curious About What This Blog Can Do ... ;-)

I am getting the feeling that there are a fair number of people reading my blog these days, which is cool ... :-)

What I want to do today is to tell all of you about a wonderful young woman named Lisa Harvey.

Lisa works with me as an educational assistant. She works tirelessly, and enthusiastically and treats all of the severely handicapped young people in our room with the outmost of respect. She is a gem and I know that you would all love her in the same way that I do.

The pictures posted here show Lisa on the day that we brought our students to the farm. For confidentiality reasons, I have cropped the students out of the pictures and have just left Lisa. Students are NEVER far away from her though, let me assure you!

Early last Fall Lisa's Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her battle with cancer was not a long one. Lisa's Mom passed away in the winter. It was a difficult time for Lisa, but ... being the kind of person that she is, she has formed a team and they are entering in "The Weekend to End Breast Cancer", a 60 km walk-a-thon in Ottawa, Ontario. It is amazing to watch the role this event is playing in this young woman's growth through the greaving process.

Lisa's personal goal was to raise $2,500. My goal for her is $4,000 ... heck, why NOT go big?! Currently she has $3,050.

Here's where I am curious to see what this blog can accomplish. I'd like everyone to visit Lisa's Website for the walk ... read what she has to say ... and consider clicking on the word 'Friend' to make a secure credit card donation. When you do make a donation, tell Lisa in the message you will be asked to send, that you read my blog. (Lisa is a regular reader of my blog as well).

Lisa needs $950 to reach my goal for her of $4,000. Let's all of us do what we can to make this happen.

Thanks,

Bill

She's Gone ... :-)

Well ... it was a rodeo to be sure ... but I no longer have a cow hanging out in and around my pasture.

With a cowboy on horseback and an ATV ... the wild beast was caught and led home. The journey home was well over a mile!

LOTS of fence repairs were needed as cow ... and horse ... did not always fully clear the fence.

I am VERY thankful that I raise little, friendly sheep that come when they are called ... hehehe

More Spots at Willow Garden!

Lots of ecitement here yesterday. For the past couple of days, I had been cursing the deer for making a mess of my fences with their coming and going. Then today I found a gate knocked down at the back of the farm. The very back of the farm is about 5 acres of bush and creek ... that connects to hundreds of acres of wilderness.

While investigating further ... this is what I found ... at least she is spotted ... hehehe

After lots of time and energy spent ... by a lot of people ... chasing the poor thing, she went and hid in the thickest of the bush. The funniest part of the chase was when she jumped the fence into the pasture and the sheep started to chase her around the field ... hehehe

Today, we'll try again ... with all of the kids ... all of the dogs ... both the 4 wheelers ... and the cowboy on horseback with the lassoo! I'll try for pictures. It should be quite the spectacal. Wish us luck!

Randon Thoughts on a Rainy Friday Morning

Today, it is pictures at random ... although they will start to included some of my ram lambs that may be for sale. I am hoping to get DNA testing results back from many in my flock before I finalize the sale list. At the rate the process is moving though, I may not be able to wait!

Here is one amazing little ewe lamb that everyone seems to have over looked ... WillowGarden Hazelnut. Her dam, WillowGarden Carmen Miranda, has some great lines in her ... and the sire, Great Plains King Arthur, is a magnificent specimen from Carol Arthur's Alberta flock.

Boys ... I'm thinking that both of these will be on my sale list ... WillowGarden Bok Choy (black/white yuglet flecket) and WillowGarden Garbanzo (mioget blettet). They are out of SheltrgPine Kamelya and WillowGarden Duke Elleington. Duke won 'best fleece - lamb' at the 2005 AGM Sheep Show. If they don't sell, I'll keep them for a while.






This little guy, WillowGarden Harcourt, is not actually little at ALL ... quite beefy ... and has an amazingly soft fleece. At the moment he is not for sale. Mainly because he is the finest white ram lamb that I have, but also because I need to watch his horns. The one on the left has a funny turn to it. If his horns go bad, I'll wether him, as his fleece is to die for. His dam, Great Plains Wren, is another of the wonderful ewes imported from Carol Arthur's Alberta flock last Fall. The sire is Whistle Stop Lerwick, leased from the Odessa flock in PEI.







This scene is undoubtedly one that is waiting for me out there right now ... ewes and lambs ... impatient to get out to the back pasture. I better get them out there and make them happy ... and then shower and head for work!

For Lisa

One of the young women I work with has been so good about reading my blog ... and today ... she told me that it was boring and she might stop reading it. Well ... I wanna tell you ... I may be a lot of things, but boring is not one of them.

So ... here are pictures of my latest lamb, born late last night ... Willowgarden Litchee Nut. She is a TOTAL doll and out of WillowGarden Peggy Lee and Wind Water Sean O'Sullivan. She is also the smallest lamb of the year, weighing in at only 3.4 pounds! She is NOT for sale. She is, however, out bounding in the side pasture.

For you Lisa ... and please, keep telling me when I don't quite measure up. Young people who recieve the level of respect from me that you do ... I will listen to ... about my blog anyway, even if not at work ... hehehe

Mature Ewes - Sales List Revised as of June 6th

Willow Garden Shetland Sheep 2006 Sale List
($50 per animal discount when 3 or more are purchased)

- Mature Ewes

1. WillowGarden Cleo Laine - a moorit gulmoget yearling ewe, out of Windswept Alicia Spinnet (moorit ewe from Heather Ludram’s Michigan flock ), and WillowGarden Montgomery Clift (a moorit gulmget ewe). This ewe may be bred, and if so, she will be available after weaning her lamb (due before June 19). A nice ewe with some interesting genetics. There are not a lot of gulmogets in Ontario ... $300 ... SALE PENDING

2. WillowGarden Celine Dion - a fine fleeced moorit ewe, out of Cherrington Elizabeth (fine fleeced black ewe) and WillowGarden Bob Hope (moorit gulmoget ram). This ewe has great genetic lines, wonderful conformation, and a nice fleece ... $250

3. WillowGarden Ella Fitzgerald ... a black gulmoget yearling ewe, out of SheltrgPines Shaelyn (black ewe) and WillowGarden Bob Hope (moorit gulmoget ram). A great opportunity to add gulmoget genetics into your flock with this nice little gulmoget ewe ... $300

4. Great Plains Juliet ... a moorit ewe with a soft double coat, out of Great Plains Sterling (shaela) and Great Plains Harris (moorit). A nice, bigger ewe that produced two rapid growing lambs. Genetics from the US, via Alberta ... and different from much of what is here. Pictured on this page with her black and white lambs (white lamb to be retained) ... $250


5. SheltrgPines Kamelya ... an off moorit three year old ewe out of Cedarose Jennie (emsket spotted) and SheltrgPines Jeremy (moorit smirslet). This ewe has perfect conformation and a very nice fleece. She has produced emsket, mioget , and wildly spotted lambs. This is another ewe that is hard to part with. A great chance to add colour and splash to your flock. Pictured on this page with her black/white yuglet flecket ram lamb. Also pictured are her twin ram lambs ... $300 - SOLD




6. 6. Great Plains Lark ... a seven year old black ewe, with almost NO white fibres, out of Great Plains Sparky (black) and Hilsondale Sparky (musket). This is a larger ewe with a decent fleece. She had twin moorit rams this year. Again, interesting genetics from the US, Via Alberta. Pictured on this page with her twin moorit ram lambs ... $200 - SOLD


7. WillowGarden Ruth Gordon ... an off black two year old ewe out of SheltrgPines Hebe (emsket) and WillowGarden Peter Pieter (moorit Iris son). A lovely ewe ... Aa/Aa BB/Bb SS/Ss MM/Mm ... Pictured on this page, posing on a rock ... $250 - SOLD

8. WillowGarden Zazu Pitts ... a two year old emsket ewe out of ShetlrgPines Athena (white) and WillowGarden Jacob (moorit yuglet flecket). This ewe is ... Aa/Aa BB/Bb SS/Ss Mm/Mm. She will add colour and flsh to your flock when bred to the right ram ... $300 ... SOLD

9. WillowGarden Shirley Eikhard ... a yearling grey smirslet out of Cherrington Esther and Wooly Clyde. This is a very correct ewe, with spotting genetics, and some interesting genetics ... $300