Reflecting back on 2009 and friendships

Gosh where did 2009 go?!!

It seems like just yesterday I was wishing for my first AI lambs to hit the ground. Hard to believe they are almost a year old already!

2009 was an amazing year. I traveled to several sheep shows to visit with friends, making lasting, stronger friendships, and I made new friends at the shows. Its always fun to brainstorm with others and listen to their flock goals and where they've been and how they came to finding sheep or Shetland/BFL sheep in general. Thanks to the internet, blogging, and breed associations, I've been able to meet many whom I consider some of my best friends! Whether we agree or disagree on what we do with our sheep, or what our priorities are with them, we never let that get in the way of our friendships. And I can say with the exception of one person, everyone I've met through blogging I consider a friend. Friends look out for each other, stick up for each other when they are getting slandered, call them when they are down, and are there to lend an ear or shoulder. So thank you to all of you who were my friends this year. The sheep are really secondary in that matter. Sheep will come and go but friends will always be around, in some form or another.

I got my amazing NASSA news in the mail much quicker this time and in prestine condition! I must thank those who take the time to write down their experiences on paper (or computer I guess these days), share their life experiences, photos, notes, knowledge. It does not go unnoticed! I am always wanting to learn as much as I can about our ancient Shetlands and am thankful for those both in NA and the UK that have shared their time with me and answered questions that I've posed.

Its also very easy to take things the wrong with the advancement of online chatter. Unfortunately that seems to get taken more the wrong way than the way its supposed to be taken. I cannot apologize for how others read and react to my blog posts, but its never meant as passive aggressive or as a dig. Shame on you for thinking that! For those of you who know me, you know that I am very serious about my sheep, very willing to learn and listen to others and hope that by expressing my thoughts on my blog, that others will take that step to discuss the same issues on their blogs, all in friendly discussion, making it able to be used as education for all, and in turn, creating a better understanding everyone.

Many of you I would not have met, had it not been for the blog. I've sold fleeces because of it, traveled to different parts of the country because of it, and made many friends I would have never met otherwise.

I think that Corinne and Nancy are the most funny people I've ever met (aside from Stephen) and they always make me laugh when we are together. They truly are the friends you would think of when you are sitting in a jail cell and laughing together about how fun it was to do whatever we just did to get in trouble. ok maybe not THAT extreme but you get the idea ;) Never would have met them, had it not been for blogs and sheep!

Theresa and Juliann are amazing ladies with a wealth of knowledge about the breed, production aspects, genetic aspects, they are both wonderful and amazing people.

Stephen is such a gracious host for Michigan Fiber Fest each year and has two houses full of sheep people staying with him. He takes us on field trips around the area for landscape nurseries, shops, restaurants, bars, you name it, he has amazing ones close to him.

Many thanks to the ladies in Minnesota! Sabrina, Becky, Kim and Gail for having opportunities to get together and talk sheep or just hang out! You are all great gals who I am honored to know and call you friends. Any time I need a sheep 'fix' and not be looked at strangly, you are there. So thank you!

Thank you to Cynthia for being there from the very beginning! You are a true friend and mentor, going way above and beyond any sales exchange and letting me ask questions upon questions and constantly ask 'why'. Many thanks my friend. You are very loved :) And I thank you very much for being so supportive along the way!

I should probably stop mentioning names for fear of forgetting others, but if your blog is on my links, let it be known that you all make positive impressions on me and I'm eager to continue to grow and learn together with all of you, while strengthing friendships.

Truly when we are old (well some will be older faster than ME :P) and the sheep have to leave due to our inabilities to care for them properly I do hope that we will remain friends and still get together for laughs.

Friends. It feels good! Happy 2010 and may it be very blessed for you all! I hope that 2010 will allow our paths to cross many times and our joy in our sheep can be expressed between us!

Thoughts on MFF

I arrived to Stephen's farm on Wednesday, early afternoon. After unpacking the dogs and their belongings (crates, fans, xpens, etc) We headed to Lake Michigan and the home of a large nursery. The name escapes me but it is the home of a botanist who was the leading edge of the unique evergreens that were all over the property. We met Jim and Betty Garpow and toured the place and headed to Sagatauck for supper and a bit of shopping. The stores and food were incredible! I had some renowned fudge and icecream, went to a spice store, a 'fun' store and walked the boardwalk, listened to a band playin in a city park and took a small trip to the beach on Lake Michigan as well as the lake drive. All in the presence of great company and wonderful weather. We ate at an Enlgish Pub and grill. I'm beginning to love those places!

Thursday morning I stayed at the farm and caught up on my email. Stephen had to take his mother to the hospital as she had a big fall on Wednesday and wasn't feeling any better. We headed to the London Grill in Plainwell (another British pub with Indian food, my favorite place to go). Thursday afternoon I helped him sort sale sheep, deworm the group and go over the BFLs. Thursday afternoon Bill Stearman arrived and, the Garpow's and Stephen and I headed to the Rock Bottom Bar and Grill and we pretty much laughed and scared the whole group out of the basement! I had the most amazing chicken alfredo pizza ever!

Juliann Budde arrived after dark and we took her out to Applebee's where I had a great mudslide drink for dessert.

friday morning I got up early and drove north an hour to visit Beechtree Farm where Brenda and I went through most of her sheep (especially the ones for sale) and I listened a lot and learned a great deal about the history of her flock. I wish I had a voicerecorder for that! After a quick lunch at Arby's we headed down to MFF with their show string in the trailer. I helped unload their sheep and get the pens ready and said hello to a few people I knew. Before I knew it the day was close to over and I had to rush back to Stephen's to shower and get ready for Sam's Joint where we have our traditional meal with Shetland friends and enthusists (and many backrow spinners!) Kim Nikolai, Carol Bator, the Gygi's, Garpow's, Karen Valley, Juliann, myself, Stephen, Bill and Gail Former, as well as many spinner friends enjoyed a great meal.

After I could hardly move, we then ran (seriously I nearly did, incase the last black bottom pie was there for me!) and there were no less than 22 people there as Rich Johnson finally made it there to enjoy a well earned dessert at the 747 bar.

Saturday morning I 'slept in' until about 7am (eastern) and went to talk sheep outside and then headed to the show. The Ludlam's won just about every ribbon you could think of in the Shetland show! In the BFLs (whites only) Brenda won 1st place ewe lamb with Carol Bator a close second! The entire ewe lamb class was a sight to behold and I would have loved to have owned any of them. The ram lamb class was won by a ram lamb named Kirkdale, who I had purchased just the day before. I guess I have an eye ;) A close second and definitely a strong contender was another Carol Bator lamb who was just breathtaking! He is going to produce some lovely offspring! Again all of the ram lambs were just beautiful and another sign of the good things to come with the breed. Overall champion was a yearling ewe and reserve was the 2nd place yearling ewe. The yearling rams were overall champions with I believe Brenda with the champion and reserve going to the Densmores? Correct me if I'm wrong!

The natural colored longwool class was won by a yearling ewe from Margaret VanCamp, followed by a Border Leicester ewe and then Brenda's yearling ewe. The lambs I cannot remember so hopefully someone can help me out with that as well :)

After a long day of showing (I STILL have not gone to see the vendors!!) I raced back to Stephen's to shower and then head over with the crew to The Ludlam's annual event. Numbers were down, but the laughter was still quite high! I met so many new and wonderful people it was really great to meet them! I couldn't believe how fast the time flew...you wait all year to go to MFF and then when you are there its hard to believe its almost over!

Sunday morning I loaded up the last of Stephen's BFLs as he is unable to keep them any longer. I ended up taking Beechtree Kearsley an F2 CH/V2 homozygous white ewe, her twin ewe lamb daughters out of Beechtree Cragganmore and a yearling white ewe Catalonia who is a triplet sister to my Burma here. I also snatched up a Blues x Guinevere gray katmoget ram lamb. He was just too nice to pass up!

A hundred thank yous to Juliann and Kim for helping transport sheep for me while I was driving my dogs in a tiny Focus Wagon. I think Stephen is a class A guy for putting all his friends up, driving us around, and doing such a wonderful job at promoting the classic Shetland and the fine fleeced animals that he produces!

I'm back!

I'm back from my extremely long and extremely fun trip out east.

For those who are interested in the Dog side of the trip, do check out my dog blog....ebonwald.blogspot.com

For those who are interested in the sheep portion, read on!

It was a pleasure meeting fellow blogger and facebook friends Bill Stearman and Rich Johnson. I think both men are extremely funny and quick witted and both have some great knowledge in the Shetland breed. Our sheep are very luck to have them :)

I need to head out to do some work but will post more as soon as time allows. I didn't get any photos of MFF as my camera died before I could take any sheep photos, but I did get a lot of gorgeous photos of Sagatauck, MI where Stephen and Betty and Jim Garpow and I went for some touristy things and supper.

more soon!

Packed but still not ready

OK so I found a topper finally! It was only three miles from my house...had been sitting by the road all year. How is it i never drove down that road to see it? Instead looking at all major cities and car dealerships. And for $50 who can complain!! Fiberglass to boot!

I've packed my truck up with all supplies I think I'll need, minus the sheep. I haven't decided if I drive half way tonight and stay with a friend, or get up early in the morning and go tomorrow? I don't know if I can fit all of my 7 sheep i was planning on taking (3 shetlands to show, 2 to sell, 2 BFL to show)

I can't let the BFL people down so they HAVE to come, and the three i'm showing HAVE to come, so maybe the two sale lambs might not fit. They wouldn't mind staying home I'm sure :)

Or they just have to realize they'll have more room on the way home because the hay and straw won't be taking up any room in the back of the truck!

such decisions.

and this is the first show i'm bringing sheep to show (i've had other shows where I've shown my sheep, they were just new purchases...not ones I raised) so its all very exciting and nerve wracking at the same time!

hope to see you all there!!

Packing for Jefferson, what do I need?

I'm trying to compile a list, can you help me?

1. water buckets
2. hay
3. straw
4. sheets/tarps to avoid nose to nose contact between farm flocks
5. chairs to sit on
6. business cards
7. flyers
8. pedigree book
9. pro-bios
10. grain
11-25. ???

I'm starting to panic!

MFF, good times

This post won't have any pics. Just a few stories or tidbits of my weekend.

I left Wednesday morning at 4am with little White Pine Rye in the trailer, with 9 other sheep that found a new home! I met Sue at 8am in the same Target parking lot I always meet Mary Ellen in! After a quick exchange and a washing of the hands, I was back on the road. Stopped at Cynthia's house to pick up a ewe for Stephen named Alafair and then continued on. Little did I know that there would be triple the price of a normal 'toll' with a trailer in tow. One way was almost 30 dollars instead of the 8 or 9 dollars it would normally be.

I got in to stephen's just after 10pm Eastern Time (9pm my time) and we left the girls in the trailer over night after feeding and watering was done. We sat up and talked a lot before I had to crash. driving wears a person out!

The next morning we got up early and headed up to Brenda and Marks' farm to see the BFLs, and take my girls back to stephen's, along with some hay and straw for the show. They had a full trailer as it was! What started out as a short trip, was over four hours long! My head hurt afterwards having learned so much in such a small amount of time. We were able to look at tons of photos from their trips to the UK, were able to see all the yearling rams, their mature ram Titanium (who is amazing by the way) and their lambs, both show and stock. All amazing, all nearly cookie cutters of one another. Then out to the ewe pasture. I immediately found Blackwater Dee who last year had me falling in love with her.......and then we found the mother's of the ewe lambs I purchased. Thanks again for the great fountain of information and education!!

Stephen and I were off again to his house and I couldn't wait to see his sheep. He has amazing conformation and the structure of the fleece is very crimpy with little britch wool. He has come a long way in a few short years! You should be very proud!

I was overwhelmed again and my head hurt from all the new sheep that I had seen that day. Juliann arrived shortly after and we all agreed to go out for a few drinks and some great food at an English Pub in Plainville. After a ton of hearty laughs and good times we headed back to get a good nights rest before an early morning the next day.

Bright and early we headed to the fairgrounds to unload our sheep, get the pens ready and say hello to everyone who was getting there! Chris and Alan Greene were already penned in, as were Steve and Carol Densmore. Shortly thereafter the Ludlam crew, Gail Former, Carol Bator and the Lelli's all arrived. Soon it was mass chaos with people getting their pens ready, sheep unloaded, cleaned and the bonds of friendship renewed as everyone caught up with each other.

Friday night a large group went out again to a restaurant called Sam's Place and after we pigged out on good food and drinks, we headed next door to a neat bar called 747, where we all had amazing desert! Some of Stephen's spinning friends came along and MAN are they a HOOT! I wish they all lived closer to me ...I'd be out with them every night! :)

Saturday AM we were up again early and prepping the sheep for the show, pulling VM out and cleaning heads and legs. I was not surprised to see that the judge (same as last year) hadn't learned anything and was still placing, larger, longer fleeced (primitive) and coarse sheep in the first spots, instead of the FINE wooled shetlands of more moderate size. The ram lamb class was a surprise as she placed two smaller sized rams (smaller is relative to the size of some of the other lambs) with nice crimp and luster. After that it was all downhill and she even mentioned that although they were coarse, were of the proper fleece length. Sheesh. To each is own, right?

Of interesting note, both the Champion Shetland Ewe and Champion Shetland Ram were LARGER by at least 1/4 again as big as the CH Icelandic ewe and ram. Amazing considering Icelandic are supposed to be much larger. I couldn't believe it, I have truly seen everything. I'm not saying that you shouldn't or can't raise bigger sheep but when they are bigger than the Icelandics, isn't that saying something?

Saturday afternoon I finally picked out my picks for sheep at Stephen's and we loaded them up and got ready to go to the Ludlam's farm for the hog roast. Heather and Mike are two of the nicest people I've ever met! So inviting, considerate and fun to hang out with! Mike makes his own beer and it was truly wonderful! The pig was great and I even got to go out and see their sheep in the pasture. They have an amazing set up for the sheep and their pastures were amazingly green and healthy. To only have a fraction of that green right now here in the dust bowl! It was nice to chat more with Theresa Gygi about fleeces, sizes, production and such, as well as see Gail Former and Maureen Koch, Tim and Jen, Carol, Laura Matthews, Elizabeth (one of stephen's beer drinkin' spinning friends) and Char, the friend of Stephen's who breeds Cormos. Heck she even bought a BFL fleece of one of my lambs I had just purchased......for next spring...amazing huh?

Sunday morning I got up extra early and got to the fairgrounds to load up my sheep. Most everyone else was sleeping or not at the show yet and i quietly loaded my guys and headed out. Stopped at Cynthia's again to pick up my girls and I was home and unloaded by midnight sunday.

Of an interesting point or two:

One of the spinner's in Stephen's group claimed " Its not bad for Shetland"

A fiber mill gal asked what breeds I raised and i said "Shetlands and BFLs" her lip curled when I said Shetlands and immediately went into hysterics when I told her BFLs. Is there something wrong here? Shetlands are to be the softest and finest of the British breeds, not the BFL whose main purpose is to be a terminal sire, not a fleece animal! The BFLs I have, have microned lower than I bet 90% of all North American Shetlands. That is truly sad. Let's correct that everyone! I want people to WANT to spin shetland, not be forced!

On a stupid note: I stopped in Rochelle, IL at a Wendy's to get some food. The pop machines did not have mello yellow or Vault, but they had other coke products like diet coke, coke, etc. I asked her if they had mello yellow or vault and the girl behind the counter who looked to be my age (28 for those wondering) looked at me in disgust and disbelief and said' UM NO! We only have coke products here!"

I had to stop and shake my head. I was too tired to fight it. Honey that's why you are working at Wendys............

MFF, people

Meeting of the minds: from l to r : Juliann Budde, Maureen Koch, Gail Former, Carol Bator, Tim and Jen Carrey (spelling could be way off on that last name!)


Here, Theresa Gygi steps in to listen to what is going on!


Jen, Juliann and Maureen



Here are Stephen and Juliann outside of the restaurant we passed (as we were talking yet AGAIN!)



This was taken in the dark as we waited for a 5-way traffic back up in a small town called Plainville, MI. I kept saying we needed to do a Chinese Fire drill but no one else wanted to play :(

Back seat are Juliann, Stephen and Karen Valley. Middle row are Jen and Gail. Luckily Tim and I were not in the photo ;)
I didn't get a ton of people photos, but wow did I laugh a lot! My throat and jaws were sore from laughing so hard and so often! I wish MFF was all year round! How fun would that be?!

MFF, Shetlands

Why yes, there were Shetlands too!


Here is my great friend Juliann Budde of Lil'Country showing off one of her boys :) She has amazing smooth polled rams, single coated, soft, crimpy and structurally correct! WOWZA!

Her smooth polled fawn kat and moorit boys ready for the show!

All serious in the ring.....

Pair of lambs...can't remember if they were rams or ewes...sorry!


One of Carol Bator's gulmoget ewe lambs. I was really hoping to get one of them but just didn't have any more trailer room! Honest! I'm glad that Juliann got her....at least she's "still in the family"

MFF, farm visits

Stephen Rouse is an amazingly funny man. He makes me laugh constantly! He is also very talkative like myself and before I knew it I was asking him repeatedly how to get to Mark and Brenda's farm. Every turn, every road, he would say " I'll remember it when I see it. TRUST ME". That is now my new official slogan! He used it all weekend for a host of things, it was too funny.

Next time Stephen bring your reading glasses! :P


Here is a nifty feeder that does both hay and grain. These are a few of the lambs that they are holding back.


A few of the ewes at Lelli's farm. I believe the one with the navy tag is the mother to one of the ewe lambs I purchased from them.


My favorite ewe, that I fell in love with last year, BLACKWATER DEE is shown here in this photo. She is just to die for!



Here is Brenda with her ewe flock trying to find the mother to one of my lambs that I purchased. You can see in the background the sheep barn with a 'tack/feed' room, five pens, a grooming/shearing area and in the center, a big hay area. It was a great set up!



These are the three ewe lambs I ended up taking home with me. The smaller one in front is a twin from a yearling ewe who fed them both herself. She is out of an F1 CarryHouse V2 and high percentage UK. The natural colored ewe is out of GlennFiddich who is now owned by Carol Bator, and the other white ewe is out of Drambuie, an F2 Barleas Titus (I believe).

The way home was the same thing.......Stephen and I were too busy talking and we ended up missing our turn :)

Once we got back to his place I was dying to see his sheep!


Here is his flock of what seemed like 400 sheep running for what they thought was 'grain'. What it really was, was a ploy to get them into the barn so I could see them. Shortly after this photo it torrentially rained and we ran them into the barn so they wouldn't be soaked. You NEED to biggify this photo as to see the line/steady stream of sheep coming in.

Here are two BFLs with Justalit'l Black Lambo, who I purchased from Stephen for the AI this fall. She is seven.


A group photo of some of the sheep at Sheltering Pines


Here is another group photo. The natural colored ram lamb on the right is my "Burma" aka Bubba that I purchased from Stephen. Ok traded. I brought my little Rye to Michigan in trade for the BFL ram lamb.

This manure spreader is alot like the push fertilizer spreaders we use on our lawns. THis however is pulled, and when the wheels turn, the prop spins and throws the maure out. Its so cute and little. Reminds me of when I was little playing with my little machinery and Tonka toys. Stephen is in the photo...like a proud dad LOL

MFF, BFL post

This is the sheep building at the Allegan County Fairgrounds that puts on the MFF every year. Its a nice sized building with plenty of pens, ring space and spectator seating.


These two yearling rams belong to Beechtree Farms. Handsome devils aren't they?



Two photos of the Junior Ram Lamb class where Mark and Brenda Lelli, Steve and Carol Densmore and Carol Bator are in the ring showing their boys.



Here you can see "Lance" and Carol with matching shirt and halter followed by matching shirt and halter Carol Densmore :)


Here are Steve and Carol Densmore with Steve's daughter and friend showing the four boys that they brought for sale, and to show. A nice consistent bunch of boys!


I'm too tired to 'tweak' this photo, but here is Carol and Steve in front of their farm sign. Its a very amazing sign. I need something like that!


here is Brenda Lelli of Beechtree Farm getting one of the yearling ewes ready for the show. I do believe she went on to win Champion Ewe? Brenda, refresh my memory. And for the record....I assumed the fleece was more coarse due to the type of fleece, I didn't say it WAS :P Its very soft!



Here is BFL lane, where BeechTree, Crosswind and White Pine were all bedded in the same area.



My two ewe lambs that I purchased from CrossWind Farms (Densmore's) before they are shown. You can tell they are stressed! HA!

BFL's

Four ram lambs of Mark and Brenda Lelli's at MFF.

What is it about the Blue Faced Leister that the Shetland breeders seem to drool over? I had seen Becky's two white BFL's this spring when I went to visit her farm. I adored the faces, their temperament and their fleeces! What's better yet is all summer long I'd been studying the breed, learning about the Shetland Mules, and talking with Mark and Brenda Lelli in Michigan who have done a lot for the breed in the States thanks to much importation of UK sires as well as a rigorous breeding program. I really wanted a ram to cross onto a few shetland ewes but realized that this year I wanted to breed ALL of my Shetland ewes to Shetland rams to see what the results might be. If i wasn't happy with the results I could either breed them to another Shetland ram next fall or to the BFL ram for mules. so why get a ram this year then if I wasn't going to get a few ewes? Well I ended up going to MFF and purchasing two ewes. I had seen photos of them but wanted to see them in person. They were on the smaller side and was told they shouldn't be bred this year. Plus the only rams available were related to the two girls I was getting so why have such a limited gene pool to start of with?

I figured I could keep the two ewe lambs for the next year and really get to know the breed that way without having to worry about the whole breeding and lambing thing with them. I could just enjoy them, watch them grow, process their fleeces, and see if I truly wanted the breed down the road. I don't want to go 'all in' on a breed I haven't witnessed anything with firsthand. Time will tell if they work out for me but so far I do know that the two girls i have are complete lovers and love to be scratched and nearly knock me over at feeding time!!

Here is a photo of Callaway, the little girl I got to show at MFF. Both girls are growing well on the alfalfa/grass hay blend and their oats/barley/cracked corn and lamb pellet blend.


You either love or hate that adorable face!!



A ewe I have dibs on after they are done using her. 232 was completely smitten with me and won my heart over while I held her during our waiting time between classes!

MFF

A few weekends back I had the pleasure of roadtripping with Becky Utecht and Kim Nikolai to Allegan, Michigan for the annual Michigan Fiber Festival. We left St Paul about 4am and drove straight to Allegan. I couldn't believe that the 9 hour trip seemed to only take 45 minutes as we all had a lot to say and enjoyed the discussions that ensued.

Friday evening we went out to supper with a huge group of Shetland breeders and got to meet many new faces. I was able to meet Gail Former the current president of NASSA. Poor Gail was left behind when it was time for supper because Stephen Rouse and I were so busy talking and he forgot to pick her up for supper. Fortunately Gail did find the restaurant and we were all able to laugh a lot about the mix up.

We all stayed up rather late (considering Becky and Kim and I had been up since 2 or 3 am that morning) talking sheep and it was an early morning on Saturday as well.

I was able to help hold Blue-Faced Leisters for Mark and Brenda Lelli and was even thrown into the ring a few times to help them show. It was a bit different than showing dogs but it was much more laid back. I enjoyed myself immensely! With all the showing that went on that day I was unable to see the vendors much as I was constantly in the sheep barn meeting new shepherds and their sheep.

Saturday night was the annual pig roast at the Ludlam farm and was able to meet even more people there. The food was great and the company wonderful but we were all tired and headed back to the house we were all staying at around 10pm. I was up until 3am talking sheep with Stephen and up again at 7am!

A few more hours running around talking sheep with other breeders and it was time to head back. With new sheep in tow for all of us (Becky and Kim and I) and we headed back in the constant rain and flooding with a great weekend behind us full of new friends and old, laughter and more knowledge on the Shetlands.

Thanks to all those whom I met at MFF weekend and I look forward to next year!