This marks the 4th spring lambing from these ewe lines.   With great care, nutrition, attention, and some amount of luck, all births resulted in healthy lambs and dams.

Flock decisions are harder this year than ever.  Having such a strong lineup of proven ewes and 3 excellent ewe lambs makes it difficult choosing who to retain for the future of the flock while keeping overall numbers appropriate for the infrastructure.

Each year this design is complicated, but in the past there were standouts, someone with a poorer fleece, bad attitude, scur horns.

The strictest challenge we face on this homestead scale is degree of relation of individuals.  This was the original impetus to keep a mixed Shetland/Icelandic line (Rosie) and the boon of this mix is hybrid vigor in size and fleece quality.  The crosses have, in my opinion, very fine quality fleece - retaining the bold character of Icelandic wool, with the even texture and smaller micron count of the Shetland.
*hint hint, I'm leaning toward retaining Blaze's ewe lamb

In the future we hope to add a 3rd ewe line, and are always on the lookout for impressive unrelated rams.

We are woven into the flock cycles of birth and death, as the wheel of the year turns so lambs grow and slaughter approaches.