Summertime...

These past few weeks have been crazy-busy--moving sheep, getting ready for the fair, mowing, weeding, cleaning, weaning lambs, getting paperwork in order, the list just goes on and on...

I enjoy watching the sheep mow the front lawn, and always try to take a lot of photos. Maybe I can finally start working on our regular website and list some sheep for sale.

This has been the coolest summer yet. Very wet, too. I hope I can find enough hay to get us through the winter.Everything is green and lush. Tomorrow is the first day of August, and I haven't had to pull the hose out to water the garden yet. Getting ready for the fair is hectic. Lambs have to be weaned, and the fair sheep moved to their own paddock. They have to get used to a different diet of hay and sheep feed, since they can't graze at the fair. There's a ton of paperwork to do. Three year old Drea (above) was shown as an aged ewe. She's a beautiful, meaty ewe with wide horns. My daughter tries to get everyone used to a halter, so they'll be easier to handle during judging. She took 9 sheep to the fair this year. The judge really liked Gardenia, one of Pippi's twin daughters born this spring. The judge also like Grady, Elodie's black ram. His fleece is an amazing dark blue/black color without any silvering or fading. The sun often bleaches out the tips of the delicate lamb fleeces. Not so with this boy!

Grex, Emily's ram lamb also went to the fair. He's very muscular, great wide horns and silky fleece. Though Grex is the larger of the two, the judge liked the length on Grady. This was my son's "best of show" oriental lily from 2008. It really was a freak of nature, with more than 20 blooms on one stalk! He got another best of show this year with a pink lily. Oops, forgot to get a photo of that one!This year's judge had seen Icelandics before, which was a real bonus. He gave us some great compliments, and said our sheep would be compete well against other Icelandics. He really took the time to look them over. So much of the time, the long fleece scares them away and they don't know what to say! Just look at this ewe class! Some of those Suffolks and Montadales are giants! They look more like a pony than a sheep. My kids typically have around 50 projects between the two of them. This year was a little more low key, which was nice, and will probably be their last fair.