Friends of my son's (and mine), sent me pictures they took when they came to visit in June. Their little girl, Ruby, developed a special relationship with Breeze, my runt of a BFL.
What a happy pair!
I'm going to use this picture on my web page to promote my Guest House ... once I finish with the renovations!
Anna came to stay with Grandpa for a couple of hours today. We had a great time together, but she was quite uncomfortable as she is getting her second tooth.
I thought for a while about what I might give her to chew on ... and then it came to me ...
... when my teeth are sore ... I reach for a beer opener. Here is Anna, teething on a beer opener from Grandpa's favourite kind of beer ... :-)
You know the old saying ... "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!"
;-)
My friend Michele Minty has been breeding for fine fleeced Shetlands for many years. She has been quite successful and has an awesome flock! She also used a gulmoget ram (Beula Land Duncan) on her ewes last fall ... so I knew that she'd have some double patterned lambs.
I need double pattern ewe lambs as I want to use an awesome 'black' ram lamb (could be Extension Dominant though) for one breeding group this Fall. This ram is the softest black I have ever felt, very crimpy, and of course, his conformation is awesome!
Michele has just the ewe lamb I was looking for, out of Duncan, and a Great Plains Baxter daughter ( I LOVE Baxter!). This is a 'can't miss' ewe lamb! Thank you Michele!
Michele has other lambs to sell, so visit her blog.
Well ... I have sold out of sheep again this year and was pretty proud to have managed to get the flock down to the 30 BEST ewes and ewe lambs that I had. And then I started looking at sale lists ... *sigh*
I have sold a LOT of sheep to Jamie and Sara Scholtes, and they have stock from all of the lines I have collected. Somehow, Sara managed to take sheep from my breeding/collecting ... and pair them in ways that have me unable to resist buying four of her lambs!
So ... Out of WillowGarden Apricot (Whistlestop Lerwick X Great Plains Juliet) and WillowGarden Bassa (Bramble Nick X Lugthart Goldthread) ... comes this little girl. Both Nick and Goldthread have stayed black with almost no iset, even as they age. I'm hoping for the same from this girl!
This cutie is out of HarmonyMarsh Aubergine (not sure who she is, but I know she's out of my sheep) X WillowGarden Sudan (Dailley Kismet X Dailley Iris). This doll can't help but throw cute babies, with great conformation and awesome fleece.
How could I turn down this girl out of WillowGarden Gala (Great Plains Kilda X WillowGarden Duke Ellington) X HarmonyMarsh Aslan (again, not sure of his parents, but they'll be from my stock).
I debated about this girl for a while as she is another Sudan daughter and a moorit and not likely carrying spots ... but look at the conformation and presence to this girl! Her Dam is WillowGarden Tracy Chapman (Claystone Solomon Grundy X Claddagh Palmyra). I couldn't resist her!
I'm so looking forward to adding these girls to my flock. It's nice to be adding back in some of the lines from a few years ago that are now quite distant in my pedigrees ... well, some of them.
Thank you Sara! ... and here, once again, is the link to her sale page.
Anna Beckenham - 7 months old
... swinging, what could be more fun?!
It MIGHT be food ... LOL
Will Stearman - 9 months - with his Dad ... rockin'!
COOKIE!! This dude is a chip off this old block ... ;-)
Is that the beginning of Grandpa's belly? ... hehehe
A new pool! Very cool!
Last summer I imported V Creek Hummer from Wisconsin, to use on my AI ewe lambs that were extension dominant. Hummer is a double patterned ram ... gulmoget and katmoget.
Most of his lambs were either gulmoget, or katmoget, as you'd expect.
A couple were solid and I know that they got the extension gene. BUT ... they are so awesome that I have to keep them for breeding. This year I have leased back a double patterned ram lamb from Nicole Heath at Veliraf Farm, near Conn Ontario. His name is WillowGarden Benny Goodman and he is a spotted grey gulmoget ... with great conformation and fleece.
I also have one black extension dominant ram that is sooooo soft that I HAVE to use him for breeding. He'll get all of my double patterned ewes in his group.
I'm pretty happy with my Hummer babies ... :-)
It is that time of year again, here at Willow Garden ... the time of year when I begin to think about animal protein for sustenance! So ... last Thursday, I picked up 60 meat birds to raise ... free range and all naturally, of course.
And a while ago I got some rare(r) breeds of chicks to raise up as egg layers. Above is a Black Langshorn.
And this one is a Cukoo Moran.
Here is a pair of Partridge Plymouth Rocks. I have no desire to keep a rooster, so I may see if someone is interested in a breeding pair.
These are Silver Grey Dorkings. 
And this is a Speckled Sussex. This bird has a LOT of comb. I am really hoping that it is a faster maturing female and NOT another rooster ... but ... I have my doubts.
His dam is a white ewe, Whistlestop 0429 (Lizbet). She is F2 Drum Jings and F1 Island Skeld.
His sire is a very dark grey katmoget, WillowGarden Nelson AI. He is out of Great Plains Cherry (F2 Timothy, F2 Greyling). His sire is Todhill Hornblower.
I still have NO CLUE as to what colour this guy is! If he got the Katmoget pattern from his sire, then the dam must be carrying Ag. I can see nothing other than white in the dam's pedigree as far back as I can trace it on line.
So ... I am leaning towards thinking that this guy is white with a LOT of phaeo. I'll use him on a few ewes this Fall, to confirm this.
But ... he sure has a nice look to him, doesn't he? 
What a happy pair!
I'm going to use this picture on my web page to promote my Guest House ... once I finish with the renovations!
... when my teeth are sore ... I reach for a beer opener. Here is Anna, teething on a beer opener from Grandpa's favourite kind of beer ... :-)
Michele has just the ewe lamb I was looking for, out of Duncan, and a Great Plains Baxter daughter ( I LOVE Baxter!). This is a 'can't miss' ewe lamb! Thank you Michele!
So ... Out of WillowGarden Apricot (Whistlestop Lerwick X Great Plains Juliet) and WillowGarden Bassa (Bramble Nick X Lugthart Goldthread) ... comes this little girl. Both Nick and Goldthread have stayed black with almost no iset, even as they age. I'm hoping for the same from this girl!
This cutie is out of HarmonyMarsh Aubergine (not sure who she is, but I know she's out of my sheep) X WillowGarden Sudan (Dailley Kismet X Dailley Iris). This doll can't help but throw cute babies, with great conformation and awesome fleece.
How could I turn down this girl out of WillowGarden Gala (Great Plains Kilda X WillowGarden Duke Ellington) X HarmonyMarsh Aslan (again, not sure of his parents, but they'll be from my stock).
I debated about this girl for a while as she is another Sudan daughter and a moorit and not likely carrying spots ... but look at the conformation and presence to this girl! Her Dam is WillowGarden Tracy Chapman (Claystone Solomon Grundy X Claddagh Palmyra). I couldn't resist her!
