From ... The Universe

The more you find good in another, Bill, the more you'll find good in yourself.

No matter who that "other" is.

Happy, happy Monday -
The Universe

Another 'Princess of the World' ... :-)

Today, I finally got to meet Sloane, Princess of the World. Sloane Avery Stearman, was born just after 6 AM on FEBRUARY 18th. Congratulations Kerri, Chris and Will!

LIFE IS GOOD!

She is BEAUTIFUL ... and loves her Grandpa ... :-)

Don't these two look good together?!!

And Will seems pretty pleased with his new little sister as well ... even if she doesn't do anything ... :-)

A New Dexter Friend

Yesterday Mark, one of the men in my Teaching Home, and I went to visit a new Dexter friend. Now, I want to say to all of my Shetland friends ... that it appears that a passion for Dexters turns folks into the nicest of people ... much like a passion for Shetlands does.

We had the BEST time with Liz and Denis at Eliden Farm! Liz was just a store house of information. She has me set up to milk with a MACHINE (my arthritis couldn't do it by hand). She is helping me track down semen to use with my herd. And she fed us a GREAT lunch and gave us a wonderful selection of cheeses to try. Mark brought home a big hunk of Mozzarella that Liz gave him to use in the quiche that he is making for his birthday party tomorrow. Both Mark and I are excited to start making cheese!

This is Liz's stunning Reannagh. I'm hoping that all of my cows turn out to be that nice ... :-). And that is what my bucket and set-up for milking will look like! How cool is that!

Thank you Liz for a great day and for welcoming us into your circle of Dexter friends.

Life is good!

New 'BULLS'

I have not enjoyed having Marvin here with me to breed my cows before his trip to my freezer. But ... I picked up a headgate/squeeze today so will be able to confine my cows adequately for AIing.

There is a real scarcity of Dexter semen here in Canada, so I have decided that I need to acquire straws when I can, so that I can build up a semen 'bank' for use in future years.

Here are the first two new boys ... :-)

Above is Riverhill Dusk Enchanter (dob 1989-04-09). I will be getting an as yet to be determined number of straws from this guy. He is black and carries DUN. I hear from Dexter milkers that his daughters often have improved udders. I'll likely use this guy on my two older cows.
And this is Trillium Cluny (dob 1980-04-04). This picture was taken when he was younger and I like this guy a lot. He had a 42" hip height and weighed 1,000 pounds at 7 years. I have seen some awesome daughters out of him. I am working out a 'deal' with a Shetland/Dexter friend to trade rams for a limited number of straws of Cluny semen. I'd like to use him on my young cow, Marjori.

These Modern Times

Sausage!

These boys are slated to be sheared and butchered around the first of March. If anyone is interested in one as a breeding ram, let me know before then ... :-)

... a moorit Iris son

... a double patterned (Ab/At) ram behind

... a grey Isabell son in front

... a grey Juice son, who seems to be holding colour

... and a fawn katmoget with high percentage UK genetics

Bob and Doug

My cats get along so well with my sheep. It is good to see!

Above is Bob, with Julie Christie, A North Wind Holiday daughter.

And here is Doug with Helen Hayes, one of my extension dominant ewe lambs.