Handsome Dudes...

Bluff Country Polar Bear (white)

and Dreamcatcher Hero (HST)

have accomplished their mission in the Bluff Country

They will now be searching for new a new 'bachalor pad'.

Since I no longer keep mature rams on my place, both of these rams are now for sale.

Needless to say, both boys have excellent conformation and beautiful fleece ~ or I never would have used them on my flock.  Bear is available for $300 and Hero is $400.

Contact me  for more information or photos.

ALICE says...

"I'll be having Bear babies in about a week!  Mom's hoping for a little white ewe lamb that looks like her daddy and a grey ewe lamb that looks like a silvery grey version of ME!  I'm not telling her what's really coming.

She (and you!) will just have to wait..."

It seems that Alice is just as big of a tease as Dreamer!

Seeing Double???

I thought I might have a hard time telling Hero and Echo apart, now that the entire flock is together.

I'm doing okay with knowing which is which but I can't get the right NAME out ~ EVER!!

I was actually pretty amazed at how easily these two accepted each other.  The either ignored each other or casually checked one another out.

I never even saw a serious head-on collision!

Of course, I'm not mentioning how Hero did with Polar Bear or Razz...

DREAM says...

"Get lost kid!"

The GAME is still on!

Don't forget to leave a comment and include the random letters that you have to copy, along with the definition for the "word" they make.  Click "GAME", above, to see the  full rules.

I'll announce what the prize will be on Monday!



GAME Time!

DREAM says...

"You are NOT going to believe what Mom has done!

Suffice it to say that things are not exactly  peaceful in the Bluff Country today."

I put all the sheep back together yesterday.

The game is ON!

Actually, things have settled down quite nicely.

But I did reunite ALL of the sheep yesterday.  It was "interesting".  I took so many photos and I want to share them but I'm going to split them up into several posts instead of one, L  O  N  G  one. 

I would also like to invite you to play along as you watch the antics of my flock.

I've always thought it would be great fun to give meanings to the random letters that pop up when you go to leave a comment on most blogs.  What I would like to do, is propose a game:

Each time you leave a comment, please include the random letters that you had to copy and your definition of the word you make of them.  Keep the letters in the order they appear.  I realise that in most cases, the results aren't a "real" word ~ that's half the fun! 

On Wednesday, Feb. 9 we'll select the "winner" (the person with the best definition for their made up word) and that person will win a PRIZE (to be determined). 

Remember, you must use the random letters that pop up when you  are about to leave a comment.  You may enter as many times as you wish but only one word for each group of letters will be accepted. 

"This is gonna be FUN!"



From lambs to RAMS...and FARM FRIEND FRIDAY!

 Welcome to the first "Farm Friend Friday"!

When you've finished reading this post, be sure to click on the link at the bottom.  It will take you to Verde Farm's blog and to many more links to farm blogs that have joined the Farm Friend Friday party!

Bluff Country Shetlands' contribution is a post regarding the dramatic change in horn growth on ram lambs as they come out of their first winter...

These first few pictures were taken one month ago.
 

For the first time, in the history of Bluff Country Shetlands, I chose a white ram lamb to use for breeding this season. 

Polar Bear was just too nice of ram lamb not to use!

 

His conformation is excellent and his fleece is absolutely gorgeous!  It's exactly what I breed for ~ a nice, soft, moderately crimpy, fine, intermediate fleece.  I am very excited to see the lambs he produces with my intermediate fleeced ewes.

If you look closely at these first three photos, you can see where Bear's horn growth stopped, late last fall. This is normal. It is evidenced by the darker 'ridge' at the base of his horns.

The following pictures were taken this week:

You can clearly see the new horn growth at the base of Bear's horns.

His horn buds were huge at birth and I suspect he's going to have massive horns.

 

Massive, widespread horns, beautiful fleece, excellent conformation and a pink nose!  What more could anyone ask for in a breeding ram?   

DREAM says...

 

"I'll have to take your word for it Mom.  Echo won't let Bear anywhere near me!"

Now, go check out:

Farm Friend Friday

Click here to visit the Verde Farm Blog and links to many other Farm Blogs!



There's a New Boy in town...Dreamcatcher Hero!

I have so much to tell you.

It'll have to wait until tonight!

I'm having some friends over to spin this afternoon.

And my house is a mess!

He's in with Kiss and Princess!

DREAM says...

"NICE NAME!  But, I'm kind of busy right now.."

"My hero (for this year anyway!), "Echo", won't let me out of the barn!"

giggle, giggle giggle!

Fall Fell...

Remember this?

photo taken on Oct 7, 2009

Same shot:  Photo taken on Oct 12, 9009

If you click to biggify the first photo, you can see that the pumpkin patch was a mass of giant, green leaves.  I didn't even know for sure if there were pumpkins IN there!

They were there, all right.  Now, all the leaves are gone.  Vanished while I slept.

               Remember this?   

I took this one this morning:

Do you remember when Kimberwood HUNTER came to live in the Bluff Country?

2007!  He'll be leaving for his new home, in Illinois, later this week...

Baby Dreamer!  2006:

DREAM says...

"Some things just keep getting better!"

"Thank you again, Katie, for Mom's Happy Lamp!  It sure does make a BIG difference at this time of year!!"

I do want to sincerly recommend "light therapy" for anyone affected by SAD or depression.  It's made a HUGE difference for me!

(knock on wood!)

If You Think the EWES Had it Bad...

My poor boys have been banned to the outer pasture, to make room for more CHICKENS in the barn!

They have plenty of good grazing and fresh water and shelter, so they're not exactly 'abused' but they're not exactly getting lots of attention either. Then again, that's not such a bad thing with rams. The truth is, I hope to have all three boys gone within the next month. Hunter (beautiful, Mioget, HST, 2yr old ram) is for sale. (although, I MIGHT just use him, quick before he goes!) I had a buyer for him but she can't take him until December and I do not want to keep an intact ram any longer.

Here are the results of his 2year old fleece micron test: He averaged 23.7 microns, with a standard deviation of 6.3, a coefficient of variation of 26.6, had 2% of his fibers below 15 microns, 85.4% below 30 microns, and a spin fineness of 24.3 microns. Contact me if you are interested in adding this handsome boy to YOUR flock!

The girls are enjoying the side pasture again today.

I have to move them back to their main pasture, before I leave for work because I don't have the electric hooked up on the temporary fence any more.

I LOVE this picture of my Black Cochin: "SHINE"

DREAM says...

"BOY! Things sure are CRAZY around here!"

BAD BOY, BAD BOY, What Ya Gonna Do?What Ya Gonna Do When He Comes For You?

Before I go into the gory details of my latest 'Dance" with Hunter ~ I'd like to take a moment to THANK YOU. Thank you to each and every one of you who 'heard me' yesterday. I don't think you can know how much strength your messages (both on here and in private) gave to me. I can't even begin to describe the feeling of empowerment that grew in my psyche with each and every comment that I read. I'm NOT sorry that I posted...

And now, back to our Regular Scheduled Programming:

Hunter has been bad. Yes, again!

You've gotta give the guy credit for trying...

Once again, it wasn't a vicious attack ~ more of a "Hmmmm, she's just standing there, maybe I'll butt her" kind of thing.

This time, I held on to my camera!

Needless to say, bad behavior will NOT be tolerated and the Golden Boy is just going to have to get that through his thick head...

Hunter says...

"JEESE! What a GROUCH!"