Thanksgiving weekend means. . .

The rams get to go spend a few weeks of quality time with the ewes.  They've thought they were in Jail.

The ewes were getting a little antsy. . .

And sometimes, cruel.

"That coat is too small. It makes you look FAT, you know."

Warm November

I've been taking lousy photos lately;  maybe because I don't take the camera outside (or myself) until late afternoon, and the danged sun goes down at 5 or so. The light is bluish and gray by 4pm--

But the little new Finn ewe, "TRP Number 20" stood still nicely for me, and I got this one.  My daughter wants to call her Kimi, I believe.  A Finn boys' name, but she likes the sound of it.

I'm trying to make myself part with some more ewes.  I think lambing 20 in spring will drive me crazy, but I seem to have a rational reason for keeping them all.  Next summer I will have to hold a Clearance Sale.

Outside, now, to do pruning and digging/moving some small trees.  We know what weather will soon be here.

New Finn Ewes, Oh boy!

The Finns I can get locally are fine sheep, of Wee Croft lineage, bred at Gale Woods Farm by Tim Reese, the Farm manager.  Gale Woods is a teaching farm park in Minnetrista, MN.  Tim's flock is certified scrapie-free and tested for OPP.  I was thrilled to get 3 new Finn ewes from him.  This black girl with the big white splash on her forehead also has a white foot.  She was sheared last month-- while her "sister", who to my eye looks modified black, or emsket in Shetland terms-- was not.    I was stunned to really see her color today.

You see, I wasn't even going to buy this solid colored ewe, but she came up to me and laid her head on my thigh.  She's a love, and look at that wool!

Of course, it's the spotted cow of a sheep that first caught my eye.  What a splashy look!

They're a little spooky in their new yard.  This lineup was caused when the farm cat walked by!

The Homeless Sheep have Homes

Hooray!  I offered the re-homed sheep on Best Farm Buy Classifieds (have all of you found these?  It's national.) and a young man and his lovely bride decided shepherding was for them.  (P.S.-- if you can teach me how to make a hyperlink within the blog, I would just link to the Classifieds.  Thanks!)
It's fun mentoring someone who's just getting set up to raise sheep.

If you recall, 3 ewes had come back here from a neighbors';  one, who had some possible mastitis? problem  while she was with them, I decided I should keep, to keep an eye on next season.  One, LittleRedOak (LRO) Mallow, went to a farm in New Prague with her sister, LRO Catnip (boo hoo, we will miss her).
The new, young shepherd is taking Mallow's daughter, Mindy, along with Easter Lily, one of the spring orphan twins (I know, how could we do that!) and two more of our little brown ewes.
He will have a nice starter flock.  Also rescued by him was the little black ram who was GOING to go to the butcher-- the one whose photo was shown here a month ago, eating a pumpkin.

I'm feeling fortunate to have the time and money to arrange these pairings.  These sheep are all fortunate.  They will be well cared-for.