Island County Sheep Show

ERN is in Island County, so as such, our "home" fair will be the Island County Fair. For the second year, we entered sheep in the Open class show. It is a very small fair, and the Superintendent has flexibility in what classes are offered. Another Gotland breeder, Joanne Martinis, and I, offered to bring two classes worth of % Gotlands. We had a class of white Gotlands and a class of colored (grey) Gotlands. It was a lot of fun. The judge, Linda Pfeiffer, studied the GSBANA standard ahead of time, and did a great job of judging and was informative in reasons for her placements. She understood the different characteristics brought in by the Foundation breeds and the importance of selecting characteristics from both the longwool side and the Northern Shorttail side in our "final" product.

The top awards were split between Joanne and I. My ewes won Grand Champion white - Chamois - and Reserve Ch. white - Rugby - Grand Champion colored - Daisy - and Reserve Champion colored - Chloe. Joanne's rams won Grand Champion white, Reserve Champion white and Grand Champion colored and Reserve Champion colored. (sorry! I missed their names)

The photo below shows Rugby in her winning pose.

...and the white ram lamb class.

I have more news... but it will have to wait for another blog post. :-)

- Franna

EverRanch North

Looking across our friends' driveway, and our NW corner, you see ERN from corner to corner and front to back. Click to biggify. The tip of the shop is peeking up in all its Coastal Plain green goodness at the upper right. Dave just mowed the field in front, taking down thousands of thistles. (Did I say that the "pastures" are in tough shape?). The far corner, just to the right of the center pole is the SE corner of the property - part of the 20 acres we just bought. In all, we have 40 acres here, in our little corner of Heaven, 1/4 mile on a side, 1 mile in perimeter.

:-) :-) :-)

Transformation

Take This:

Plus This:

Sage Green aka "Coastal Plain"

and This:

Off White aka "Greek Villa"

and This:

Grey Accents aka "Gauntlet Grey"

With a lot of This:

This:

This:

This:

And This:

Equals This:

This:

And, Finally, This:

EverRanch North - sitting on a rocky rib near Oak Harbor, Washington, overlooking plains both north and south, whitewashed farm buildings on adjacent parcels, just awaiting our sheep of many colors, including grey, to make it complete.

- Franna

Prelude

The Shepherd gazed across the fields and smiled. She envisioned sheep grazing and moving slowly across the coastal plain. In the distance, buildings reminiscent of a Greek villa clung to the side of a steep slope, catching the rays of the setting sun. A young Gotland lamb stood at her feet, its fleece the color of her grey gauntlets. She reached down to rub under the lamb's chin in the very spot to elicit a tail wag.