Shetland Wool Samples...

I thought I'd share these with you... 

This first sample is a lock I plucked from the intermediate/single-coated pale apricot-musket brockle-faced twin ram lamb by Shirehill Minder, out of Chub. He's for sale, by the way; $450. Correct, square-made with a leg in every corner, clean lines, sound, long and wide top, great tail... but he's a half-poll/aberrant horn (non-lethal) kind of fella. Look closely at his crimp pattern and read below.*

Also sired by Minder; In this photo, the first lock is from J's Minder Mara, an intermediate/dual-coated spotted black katmoget triplet ewe lamb, out of J's Buttermilk. She is marked yuglet-flecket, with only a few spots, but her white body is not really white. You can't tell by the photo, but her wool is a cool blue-grey with white primary follicles. I haven't seen anything quite like her...

The second is of Minder Masada, an intermediate moorit katmoget twin ram lamb, twin to the musket of the first image. He is the one who is really baffling me. The following two images are also his... 

  

In this you can see a typical progression of crimp structure and pattern... This sample was taken when he was about six months old, and I was evaluating the sire prospects.

*Then a few days ago I open his fleece and see what has happened over the winter... Look at how he goes from that deep, wide crimp to the freaky, super-fine, tiny crimp pattern... So now I'm really anticipating his yearling fleece. (Note; the tips of his locks were tender when I stressed the staple, and that is why the lock is blunt. This is a quality that I would normally cull for, but with almost the entire crop of lambs from three sire groups with tender tips, and factoring in the wicked battle with coccidiosis we fought last spring, I'm allowing for some tenderness.)

So I'm happy with what Butter and Chub produced for me now... There were a few months where I was largely unimpressed with the results of breeding to in-bye mainland UK sires, but it's developing some character that I like... I can't wait to get some fine hill blood, plucked from the Shetland Scattald and introduced to the Jehovah-jireh genepool.

Last summer, of course Masada's dam puts on her warpaint and decides to go AWOL in the hillside jungle of Vietnam (the South side of Buzzard Creek) and is quickly and quietly sniped by Charlie (or more likely, Charlene, the lionness)... So no more lambs from her... The upside is that I bred this fella to all of the ewe lambs (except Mara who was exposed to Indio) and six mature ewes including ol' Buttermilk.

These samples are from two of Mr McLean's four-horned Oakenbank lambs in Cheshire. The first is a sample from the lamb I mentioned as being pastured at Mrs Theaker's. He is one of the softest handling single-coated Shetlands I have ever had my hands on. It is lush and creamy, and ideal for next-to-skin garment wool.

The long-tipped intermediate on the right is the handsome lamb from my earlier blog. Also very nice handle, though ever so slightly more cottoney.

Merry Christmas!

Ancient rabbinical scholars teach us that all scripture has meaning in three tenses; past, present and future. (Triune, as with almost all aspects of Elohim.) These following verses allude to the birth of our savior, Yeshua Hamashiach, Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate this day. They are not traditionally read for Christmas, but are very relevant (as is all scripture) to the foundation of our faith.

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;  it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15 

Later when Cain was born, Eve thought that the Lord was delivering on his promise to send a deliverer... Just a little early. : )

"Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren will praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thy enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.

Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; And unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Binding his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: 

His eyes shall be red with wine and his teeth white with milk."

Genesis 49:8-12

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.

And his tail drew a third of the stars from heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand, thwo hundred and threescore days.

And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels.

And prevailed not; neither was there a place found anymore in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpant, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

AND THEY OVERCAME HIM WITH THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, AND BY THE WORD OF HIS TESTIMONY; and the loved not their lives unto death.

Therefore, rejoice, ye heaven, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitors of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down to you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast forth unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

And the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and a half a time, from the face of the serpant.

And the serpant cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to to be carried away of the flood.

And the earth heled the woman, and the earth opened up her mouth, and swalloed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Revelation 12

May the Lord bless you and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you!

Jared   +z

photo: My little (okay, enormous) Ingrid puppy keeping a watchful eye over her sheep.

A Sea of Fleece...

I love this shot of wool across the backs of some Shetland ewes at the bunk.

Hereford Cattle Market!

A pretty Welsh Mule from Jo Binns...

And her pen mates below who brought L65.

Welsh Mule Gimmers (above)

Suffolk Mule ewe lambs (below) Yes, Suffolk Mules!

Hi from Wales...

Hi from Wales!

Swansea, to the West.

Photos of today's travel between Hereford and Port Talbot...

Between Leicester and Melton Mowbray...

Gorgeous countryside! Unfortunately our new cheapo camera batteries from the store across from the cattle market were no good, so there are no photos of the sheep, cattle and poultry that we saw and wonderful people we met.

We found some Duracell batteries at the store that worked and we snapped this shot and a few others along the way back to the hotel.