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We have shown photos of the two lovely yearling boys for sale in past, but since they are relisted on the Shetland list today, I am adding more photos.

Here is Valiant, yearling son of Cairn Farm Nicolas (aka “the fleece”)…and our Viola (daughter of Centaurus and grand-daughter of Nicolas):

And this is Nighhawk, also a yearling son of Nicolas and out of our Nightingale, consistent producer of beautiful fleeces and great structure:

Because we want to have fewer rams (nothing new for most Shetland breeders) and these boys are too nice to send to little white packages, we will offer to help with transportation…we make lots of trips to the West side of the state. Our dear children are there….if you are near, we will bring one of these handsome lads to you; if you are further, we will meet you half-way.

Constantine was bred to four very special ewes this year.

This is his second breeding season with us, and since there were too many of his 2008 lambs that I couldn’t part with, we made an effort to prevent a repeat of my dilemma. (Tactics that we hope have some chance of success) First of all, we bred him to fewer ewes, and secondly, at least 4 of his potential lambs are spoken for. THAT should work…maybe.

His ewes were:

Stonehaven Imogen…

is a Shetland black ewe with a soft lustrous single-coated fleece. She is sired by our Centaurus (who brings a good infustion of Maple Ridge blood and comes from our finest fleece line), and out of Puddleduck Freia (who carries 50% Flett genetics). I don’t think that Imogen carries spotting, although you can see a little moon-spot on her shoulder. This should be a cross made in heaven.

Stonehaven Olivia…

an elegant black with nearly pure Maple Ridge breeding top and bottom. Olivia sets the standard for soft blacks! These will be her first lambs, and they should be challenges to my resolve let lambs go next summer!

Stonehaven Chloe…

is a fawn, wrongly registered moorit…she was our first lamb ever (way back then) who has arguably the nicest fleece in our flock. Chloe is 11 this year, so these will be her last lambs. I am afraid that we have to keep at least one of them!

Sacred Lily Towhee…

is an emsket ewe who was bred to Constantine last year, and who gave us two amazing ewe-lambs. We are hoping for a repeat performance. But this time we wouldn’t mind a ram-lamb or two….promised to very special homes!

I know that it has been a long long time since I wrote anything…and there is so much to catch up on. This photo was supposed to be part of a post that didn’t get written:

It was taken around 3 weeks ago…but amazingly at present, we still have sheep and horses out on pasture. The sheep are being supplemented with hay; the horses are grazing the upper hay fields and although there isn’t any tall grass, the 50 or so acres that they have to roam in provides enough forage that they are still VERY well-nourished!

The three rams from our flock used for breeding this year have been returned to the ram-flock…back to the world of group huddles, hurled insults, cheap shots, and full-on head-butts.

I love our rams, but this time of year finds me waxing Darwinian. We intercede when things get too rough….but thank goodness the numbers of boys spread the bad behavior around, and mostly the squabbles don’t amount to any serious damage. Photos of these fellows and their girls will follow…

But in our breeding pen, there is one ram still with ewes:

This handsome lad is Shady Oaks Spats who is here on lease and will return to his own flock in a couple of weeks. We brought him in to breed some of our ewes carrying spotted genetics. He is an ideal ram in all ways… perfect HST markings, carries the modifier, has a soft uniform fleece and great conformation. And in addition to this, he has a sweet respectful personality (not a surprise since he was raised by Marybeth). I adore him and I can’t wait to see his lambs!

Here are his girls:

Sheltering Pines Musette…a modified black whose fleece appears to be a true dark brown where it hasn’t met the sun.

Sheltering Pines Sarah…a spotted emsket ewe with a soft silky fleece, and a special darling of mine. Sarah chose me and we have been best friends ever since. She is the mother of Sterling, whom you will see in a later post.

Sheltering Pines Flute Celeste…a lovely petite ewe with a light moorit fleece, very lustrous and soft.

Dodge Cascadia…has thrown HST lambs in past, although she herself isn’t spotted. She is relatively new to our flock, but gave us an outstanding moorit ram in 2006 (so much for selling boys!).

This is Sheltering Pines Plein Jeu..an HsT katmoget whose fleece has am amazing amount of color underneath. She had to have the tips of her fleece trimmed, but I thought this photo was better than the sheared version. In any case, it shows her sweet face and her beauty mark! She gave us a very special katmoget ewe-lamb last year.

Bluff Country Premonition…her long soft black fleece is amazing. She is a sweet friendly girl who carries spots…and passes along her fleece quality to her lambs.

Well friends….it’s almost time to go out for afternoon chores. The hours fly by faster than usual…the short days are forcing us to cram so many things into the daylight hours!