The Way We Were

Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday that Cara was in the lambing jug with her little katmoget ewe lamb on the left and her musket ram lamb on the right.

Resting and growing obviously go hand in hand. Here are brother and sister resting in the morning.

Today I discovered the two of them resting together as mom was picking grass nearby. They think nothing of growing up!! It's just a part of life. My, how they are changing daily.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day! I am the proud mother of two beautiful daughters that will be 19 and 21 years old this year. Where does the time go?

Sheer Pleasure/ Shear Pleasure

Visiting with lambs after shearing day is sheer pleasure!! Yesterday we sheared 22 sheep -
1 ram, 4 wethers, and the rest, ewes.

Hidaway Farms Solitaire (a single katmoget) rests beside Katie today. Rothey and Katie helped in the shearing of our 9 mothers. There wasn't as much confusion in the barnyard today as there has been in the past. Maybe this group of babies is smarter than the rest...they recognize their moms after a haircut!

Oh, the joys and peace of being a little lamb hanging out with the shepherdess!

These two little ram lambs want a piece of the action...or lack thereof.

"Baa, Baa Black Sheep have you any wool?"

"Yes sir, yes sir, 29 bags full!"

At this moment our livingroom is host to those 29 bags of wool. Lovely perfume...o' de ovine!!

Our yearlings had some beautiful fleeces. (Will post pictures when we have time to start skirting them.)

Lambies, Of Course!! (and some of the things they do)

Little lambs resting!

Little lambs relaxing in the morning!

Little lambs, oh, so tired!!

Little lambs growing!

Little lambs pushing!

Little lambs snoozing!!

Little lambs chewing!

Little lambs playing!

Happy little lambs!

Little lamb loving mom!

Lots of little lambs being...little lambs! It's so much fun watching them and loving them, too!

Introducing Electra and Money Penny...

(Don't forget...James Bond characters!)

Introducing Electra (The World is Not Enough) and Money Penny....

These beautiful little katmoget ewe lambs are from Highlander Farms Bethia (grey) and Hidaway Farms Razzle (grey katmoget). Bethia is one of our original flock that we purchased not knowing much about Shetlands. She has a show winning single coated lustrous fleece. Bethia is 8 years old.

These ewe lambs were our first born this season on March 28th. Electra was born first and she has a darker fleece than her younger sister. She also has the white markings on her head. Money Penny (pictured above and at the very top) is the most friendly but has brought her sister along for the ride. Penny will be a very light grey. They have very wavy fleeces that have a great amount of luster and are they ever soft.

Electra shows this young ram lamb who's boss!! Big girls rule!!

Bethia is a hands-off survivalist sheep so they stayed in the lambing pen for a week so that we could bond with the lambs. Bond we did. (No pun intended!) They come running as soon as they see us. They will be a mess when they are older. They are both growing very nicely with very loud "maas".

Money Penny is on the left and Electra is on the right. Katie says that these are keepers too! I guess that's because Penny, Electra, and Solitaire are her ewe lambs!!

Last But Not Least

Introducing our last lamb for the season at Hidaway Farms...it's a girl...it's a grey katmoget...her mother is a first time mom...her name is Solitaire (Live and Let Die - James Bond). Solitaire was born last night at about 6:00. She came on day 148 of gestation. Mom worked hard to deliver this single, our first single of the year. The shepherd (Rothey) helped a little so it wouldn't be too difficult. She spent most of the night licking and licking and licking and licking. She talked and licked and licked some more. Katie has decided that she is a keeper.

Totals: 10 ram lambs/7 ewe lambs
1 black
1 musket
4 grey
1 moorit smirslet
1 smirslet fawn katmoget
4 grey katmogets
5 fawn katmogets (one may be modified)

As I get cute pictures, I will be introducing them by name. All the ewes have been named with their James Bond character. The rams will be waiting for names until we see how they grow up.

Happy Resurrection Day! We are so blessed!!

Happy Easter!! What a beautiful day!! (In more ways than one!)


We are patiently (well, sort of) waiting the birth of our last lambs for this year. Sprinkles will be a first time mom and we are at 147 days of gestation. Today would be the perfect day for new birth.



Thursday evening Abigail (Abby) delivered a nice set of grey lambs. (146 days of gestation) One is a ewe and one is a ram. This ewe will be the only Emmett daughter that we will have. I look forward to seeing these fleeces grow out. Emmett gave us several grey lambs and then with Abby's softness they should be super.




Shania was to be next so we put her in a lambing pen on Friday morning due to all the rain and storms we had in the area. She had really been annoyed by some of the older ram lambs so to make her comfortable and me happy we put her in. Nothing... Saturday morning when my husband was going to let her out for the day, he discovered that her water had broken. After breakfast we went to check and she had had 2 beautiful RAM lambs. (147 days gestation) Last year she gave us a grey kat and a moorit smirslet ewe lamb. This year we have a fawn kat and a moorit smirslet ram lamb. We must purchase a spotted ram this year so that we get more spotties!!







Our ratio is now 10 rams to 6 ewes. We're hoping for ewes from Sprinkles!! Lambs and moms are happy and healthy and that is all that really matters!!







Late last night and early this morning I completed my shawl made from the wool of 3 of our 4 bottle lambs from the past 4 years. Padgett, Sarah, and Joy had the same mom and for 3 years their mom rejected one lamb. We finally realized that we didn't need to breed her again. The shawl is very special. In my post a while back I was looking for names for the shawl. I believe that it will be Triple Treat!

3 Sets of Twins in 14 Hours....

Within 14 hours, cold and windy temperatures, and snow flurries this morning, we had 6 lambs born. Beginning around 7 pm on April 5, Cara (147 days gestation) gave us a solid moorit (at this time) ram lamb (below) and the cute katmoget ewe lamb above with the spot on her hip. Cara (mom) is grey and Cory (dad) is a fawn katmoget. Both are very mild mannered and so are these babies. They are calm and love to be handled and touched. It is amazing that their personalities can be passed down as well as physical traits!! Katie was petting the ewe lamb and stopped. Immediately the little girl began to paw her leg...not even 24 hrs. old and just like her mom.

Around 11:00 pm, Ruth (148 days gestation) lambed beside me as we were sitting in the hay in the barn waiting and watching. Ruth is yuglet/flecket and doesn't know a stranger. She didn't mind us nearby at all. We moved a little for the 2nd one as I thought she might lamb in my lap. Ruth presented us with a katmoget ram lamb and this precious smirlset katmoget ewe lamb (below). She's definitely a keeper. We want to wait until all the lambs are born before giving them names but I'm thinking of Christmas, or Camile, or Natalia...James Bond characters- don't forget.

This morning between 7 and 9, Maisie (147 days gestation) delivered two ram lambs. A beautiful shiny black fellow and a katmoget. Rare Find Farms Cory is the sire to all these lambs. Pictures soon, babies were napping and aren't very photogenic in the lambing pens.

The count is now 7 ram lambs and 5 ewe lambs. We are 2/3 finished. 6 moms down and 3 to go.

Thursday will be day 146 for Shania and Abby. Then Saturday will be day 146 for Sprinkles. We would love to have Good Friday and Easter babies.

Excited about next week...I have Easter break and lots of time to play with baby Shetlands!!