That's Enough of That...

Poor Dreamer!

My wonderful Shetland sheep have been SO neglected!

It's my friend Katie W.'s fault.  She's been coming down to my place to help me build pens and condos and perches and roosts and all sorts of stuff for my chickens. 

Which seem to have taken over my HOUSE!!!

Talk about fresh eggs:

We aim to please our mail-order customers!

Enough about the chickens, let's talk Shetland Sheep!

Sable continues to mingle with the flock, daily, and shows neither fear nor aggression toward our woolly friends.  It's too bad the same thing can't be said for the sheep!

In this photo, Destiny is planning Sable's demise...

Someone left a comment on an earlier post about Zorro being in with ALL of the ewes...

They were right! 

Zorro (shown here whispering sweet nothings into Dream's ear!)  decided that he was going to tear down my fences if I didn't let him in with the rest of the ewes and since I'm not big on repairing fences and he's really NOT mine to sell, Zorro got his wish.  There will be LOTS of lambs in the Bluff Country in 2010 after all!  This will be a strange lambing season since I didn't even put my first (unplanned) breeding group together until late December.  We'll be having lambs from late May to early July!!!

ALL of the lambs born this summer will have to be sold as I simply can not care for any more sheep than I have right now, so start thinking of what you might like to add to YOUR flock ithis summer...

I also have fleeces and rovings for sale now and will have many more to come.

Contact me  for availability of colors!

DREAM says:

..." (get out of my spot, Flash Dance!) "

 "A $50.00, non-refundable deposit will reserve your choice of the beautiful 2010 lambs!  Make your deposit today so that you can have the lamb of your dreams (maybe even one of MINE!)  from the Bluff Country"...

Good idea, Dreamer!!!

;-)

Rosemary and Thyme...(and SHEEP, of Course!)

I have been bitten by the "Perennial Bug". I find that I keep buying perennial plants and planting them. My latest acquisitions are herbs:
Rosemary

and Thyme

I'm sure the sheep just can't WAIT to try them...

I've posted quite a few photos of Dazzle, lately. She's one of the two ewe lambs that I am keeping this year. The other ewe lamb that I'm keeping is:
BLUFF COUNTRY FLASH DANCE

FLASH has been taking modeling lessons from Dazzle. Behold our most recent photo shoot:




The real problem with photographing Flash is that she's always on my lap! I try leaning way back and holding the camera at arm's length, but it's not easy gettting good pictures of her.

I like this one that I cropped from the one above...

GOLD RUSH
(who is leaving with the Maryland group) says...

"I'm Out of Here!"

Good Morning...

It's a beautiful, foggy morning in the Bluff Country. I've got a few minutes before I have to get ready for my doctor appointment so thought I'd quick share some photos that I took this morning as well as my thoughts regarding having a colonoscopy...

Isn't Luca beautiful? I'm quite proud of my 'home-grown' boy.

All three of my chickens/roosters like to come out for a walk-a-bout the yard first thing every morning.

I've finished the prep for my colonoscopy. It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared!

I found that if you add a packet of Crystal Lite to the gunk you have to drink (and keep the mug you're going to drink it out of in the freezer,between servings) it isn't half bad. No gaggy, hold my nose or I'll throw up feelings at all!

Suffice it to say that the medication did it's job. VERY thoroughly!

;=)

I do think that I was very lucky in that I have an afternoon appointment for the actual procedure. Because of that, I only had to drink half of the prep, last night, and the other half this morning. Now, nothing, NADA, ZILCH until it's done. Which, of course means that I am immediately STARVING!!!

My wonderful Princess (aka Pam ~ my eldest daughter) is picking me up to take me to the hospital for my appointment. Maybe we can go out to eat when it's done...

DREAM says:

..."Have a great day!"

I LOVE this picture!

#*@+&....

I'm thinkin' it's not nice to swear on one's blog. At least not in the title. But I must confess to more than a few profanities escaping my lips as I discovered that my electric fence is not working!

The lambs were the give away. At first, I thought they were just lucky and hopped through the wires quickly enough to avoid getting a shock. Apparently, that's not the case.

As you can see, my pasture is surrounded by woods. It is a constant battle to keep the woods away from my fence-line. This year, I am losing that battle. Of course, I didn't KNOW that I was losing the battle: I thought my charger had died. So I drove to a nearby town this morning and shelled out $117.00 for a new charger. Came home, took down the old charger ~ put up the new charger ~ no small feet for a gal who is NOT, in the least bit, mechanically inclined! Nothing. Nada. No Zap.

Which means that I have to get out the gas-powered weed trimmer and trim all the crap growing along/under my fences, all the way around the whole, freaking pasture. I hate doing that! It KILLS my right arm and shoulder. Once I get it done, I may be able to control the regrowth with RoundUp. But that's expensive.

All I know is that I've got to get something done FAST!! Until my fences are hot again, the girls are being kept in close to the barn. It is only by the grace of God (who for some unknown reason really seems to LIKE me!) that my ewes and lambs have not been preyed upon by the ubiquitous coyotes that I lay in bed and listen to at night...

DREAM says:

"I kept telling those lambs not to go through the fences, Mom! I really did!!"

I'm sure that you did, Dreamer.
I know how much you love all those lambs...

;-)

RAM Lambs...

Now that I've found good homes for the girls that I can't keep, I need to be focusing on finding homes for my handsome boys! Of course, it's too soon to tell how horns will develop on the young lads but I do sell all ram lambs with a horn guarantee ~ if the horns should grow in such a manner as to be threatening to the adult ram's health, I will replace him.

Speaking of horns...

BLUFF COUNTRY EUREKA

Bluff Country Zaria (shaela/HST)
X
Kimberwood Hunter (mioget/HST)

It will be interesting to see how this stunning boy's develop! Eureka's dam is Bluff Country Zaria and I know that she does carry the 'half-poll' gene,from her sire, Sheepy Hollow Zorro. Zaria has thrown half-polled rams in the past and they always have THE most incredible fleeces!

On the other hand, Zaria's ram lamb, last year ~ "Bluff Country Bling" did have very slow horn growth and I thought that he might be half polled but his horns did continue to grow and now appear to be 'normal' , all be it, somewhat smaller than average.

Regardless, this handsome, shaela/emsket (both his sire and dam are modified!) ram lamb does appear to be growing little scurs. They are soft and 'wiggly' at this point. I will definitely be keeping an eye on him...

Since I am not interested in breeding for polled Shetlands,
Eureka will be available for sale for $300.00

************

There's no question that this big guy will be horned!

BLUFF COUNTRY DUST IN THE WIND
Bluff Country Destiny X Kimberwood Hunter

I REALLY like this ram lamb! He is big, powerfully built, dense fleeced and has excellent conformation and an awesome rear end and tail!

Clearly a ram lamb perpetuating the quality of his grand-dam "Highland Hollow ALICE"!

Spot (HST) carrying ~ Modified (Shaela) ~ Superb conformation ~ and just look at the wool on his cheeks and poll!

It doesn't get a whole lot better than that!

Pending proper horn growth, Dusty will be available for sale for
$200.00

************

OK, so she's not a boy...

But I am SO in love with the gorgeous, golden/caramel color of BLUFF COUNTRY DAZZLE!! She runs to greet me every morning when I go out into the paddock.

Who cares about cars?
Or flowers???

;-)

When Life SUCKS...

Enjoy the LAMBS!!!

ZODIAK the 'super mom'

DAZZLE enjoying the new pasture

ZORRO looking sweet...

and intense

Zaria's beautiful, ewe lamb: GOLD RUSH

Is, sadly, FOR SALE

Bella Luna's little "CRICKET"

The world's cutest lamb!

Who am I kidding?
They're ALL adorable!