Shetland Sheep: Rich in History, Rich in Textiles

Shetland Sheep: Rich in History, Rich in Textiles! Our farm mission is to enjoy and promote the wonderful diversity of the Shetland breed by fully utilizing to the best of our ability all they have to offer historically. We believe the best preservation and management of this breed includes it's full spectrum of history. We encourage old and new shepherds alike to join in the fun by engaging in fiber arts, especially spinning and knitting, as this breed is so intimately linked with those aspects of the arts.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Shetlandy Weather

The sheep are very happy...that is when they can be outside!  We've had lots of rain in all forms, from mist to light showers to heavy downpours to fog to quiet times to high winds and driving rain then back again to drizzle or simply just a quiet break.  I send the sheep out and they gleefully run out, then play after eating up some hay.  Afternoons are for snoozing.  What a life! lol  Then evenings are back to lamb races and playfulness, with everyone up and just enjoying being out.

During some of the heavier rains, I've run them in earlier simply because our land is very, very boggy right now!  Our soils are quite slippery when wet, and water has been pooling on the surface.  Not good!  So in they come, until the saturated ground can drain a bit.

The turnout pasture is a compromise space.  The sheep cannot go out on grazing just yet, as our grasses are still too short, still recovering from being buried under nearly five foot tall snow drifts for five months.  We are hoping that by sometime this weekend, we can put up fence into the grasses to get the sheep started.  Boy, that will be a very happy day for them!  And me.  It's always a joy to see them back to what sheep do best...graze.

In the meantime, it's been a good week for spinning, of which I've done a lot of.  It's also great for listening to the rain on the barn roof and observing the lambs at play!

There is always something to do on a sheep farm!

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