Why The New Puppies

Last summer, I decided to turn the main part of my house into a 'Self-Catering Guest House' and live in a Grandpa Flat in the sunlit, walkout basement. I also decided that 'city folks' paying 'big bucks' for a weekend away, might not come back if the dogs kept them awake all night! So ... I opted to get rid of the dogs and shut the sheep in at night.

The renovations are complete and I am living in my new Grandpa Flat ... but ... a NEW and exciting opportunity presented itself as a way to generate income from the 'Guest House' area. The best part of the new plan is that I won't have to clean the space ... or make the beds!

I will be working with a local Community Living agency to run a 'Teaching Home Placement' upstairs. Two young adults with different abilities will live there and I will provide minor assistance as they acquire the skills needed to transition to full 'supervised independent living' in their own apartment.

This opportunity excites me as it puts the space to good use ... and allows me to continue working with a client population that I LOVE!
I really missed the security that Nick and Kayla provided and decided that the two young lads who will be here in September can adjust to the sound of working dogs, just as I did. After all, this will be their permanaent home for at least a year.

So the puppies are here NOW, in the hopes that I can get them well bonded with the sheep BEFORE the new folk arrive.

As much as I miss Nick and Kayla, I KNOW that they couldn't have a better home than they have with Michele and Gill at Hopeful Shetlands. Thank you Michele!

Meet Bonnie & Clyde

Clyde ... awake ...

Bonnie looking alert ... and Clyde ... looking like he usually does ...

Bonnie ... looking cute ... and like she is working ... :-)

Clyde ... thinking about work ... :-)

Lamb Pics

Leslie Howard ... polled?

Well, Papaya's lambs are now two weeks old. They are growing nicely, but won't be big as adults. VERY even fleeces on them though ... especially the ram lamb, Leslie Howard.

He also has a nice tail. VERY little britch wool is evident, so far.

Although I thought that he might be Ag like his sire Juice, I don't think that he is.

AND ... where I should normally be seing 'nubs' or 'pointy things' growing ... there is nothing ... just leathery patches. They are not indents though.

I'm hoping that other polled Shetland breeders will offer some thoughts on this guy.

I have SEVERAL poll carries, including one directly from the current Dailley flock, so it will be fun to see what he throws.

I AM a sick boy!! Planning a breeding group for a two week old ram!! What is wrong with me ... hehehe

Life is good ... :-)

Lambs in SNOW!

Well, round one of lambing has ended. I had the one young 'hussey' bred in the trailer coming back from a sheep show last Fall. Then I had 12 ewes that had a good time with Juice when I left him with the flock for 6 days! Finally, I had two ewes that I put in with WillowGarden Twist lamb. That is 15 ewes that lambed before the main lambing time ... and they had just 20 lambs! Most of the lambs were HUGE singles around 8 pounds at birth.

I am also at 11 ram lambs and 9 ewe lambs. I was hoping for more girls this year as I already have a crowded ram paddock ... hehehe.

Above though are tiny twins, Liza Minnelli and Leslie Howard, that were just 3 1/2 pouinds each at birth. They LOVED the snow, but were NOT inpressed with the COLD as the day progressed!

Here we have Lionel Barrymore tagging along with his mom, Chocolatini, as she heads out to the hay bale. I am liking this guy ... a LOT!

And a mother/daughter pose with Rwanda and her near identical daughter, Anne Baxter.

Round two of lambing could start at any time. April 10 is day 145, so likely there will be some action on the weekend. Some of these ladies are HUGE, so I am hoping for twins ... rather than 12 pound singles ... *yikes* ... :-)

More 'Juice' Babies!

Who would have thought that so many ewes would have been bred this early!! My ewes don't normally lamb until April, no matter when I put the rams in. This year, Juice bred 11 of them when I put him in with the flock for a week, before I started my breeding groups.

Here are the latest ...

Above is WillowGarden Jodie Foster. She is out of WillowGarden Tunisia (F3 Jamie, F3 Greyling, F1 Glayva).
This is WillowGarden Geena Davis, out of WillowGarden Chick Pea. Below is her un-named brother.
Below is WillowGarden Daniel Day Lewis. He is out of WillowGarden Grenadine.
Today or tomorrow should be about the last days for additional Juice babies.

One of my smaller breeding groups (V Creek Leo) from last Fall is down to just three ewes NOT bred by Juice!