Heli consistently gives large and square offspring that clip heavy fleeces, and Francesca is one of our old and dependably stalwart ewes.  She dies this past year at 12 years old, after giving us another set of twins.  She has had 10 sets of twins born in her lifetime, and of course the AI quads at the age of nine.  198L gives us lambs in the tradition of both of his parents, large and well-built, with lots of life. My only complaint with 198L is his one scur, an unfortunate inheritance from Heli.  Thankfully he tends to throw either horned or polled, usually polled, with only an occasional scur.  This boy is really big, a dependable breeder out of a fertile ewe, solid moorit clipping a heavy fleece, and he has left a wonderful legacy in our flock.

198L has moved to the farm of David Grote in Wisconsin, so these will be his last lambs for us. 

This is our last son of our beloved Solee, and thankfully he has inherited her calm demeanor.  His sire is a Heli and Francesca grandson.  His fleece is heavy, of a medium texture.  This is the first year we have used him, but with his bloodlines I have high expectations for his lambs. 

As a sheared, yearling ram.                      

612N under all that fleece!

 

BLW-801R - "Preston", white polled twin, born 4/2/05. Sire Arfi, dam BLW-465M, "Flash" .  Preston is our star, he took Grand Champion Ram at the ISBONA National Show at the New York Sheep and Wool Fair, October of 2005.                                                801R's show scores on the 10 point system are:  head 8.0, neck and shoulders 8.0, chest 8.0, back 8.0, loin 8.5, leg 17.0, wool 8.5, feet 8.0, harmony 9.0 and total score 83.0.  Best of all, the show judge Guðmundur Jóhannesson, said that 801R and his half brother 800R, could both be breeding rams back home in Iceland; truly praise from Caesar! Dam "Flash" is a black, polled Buri triplet daughter, 801R carries solid and spotting, is 1/2 Arfi, 1/4 Buri.    Flash has given us another set of twins this year, she is truly one of those ewes you can count on!

BLW-815R - Black badgerface triplet horned, born 4/9/05, dam STS-779G, sire BLW-641N, so 815R carries moorit and possibly spotting.  A Solee grandson and Heli great grandson.  Picture perfect horns, lovely fleece, great bloodlines, carries moorit.

BLW-839R - Black gray/mouflon, twin, born 4/18/05, dam is our Reserve Champion Ewe, BLW-194L., sire results just came back from DNA testing as BLW-612N, our quad from Lizzie, BLW-54G and our Flottison, BLW-477M.                                           We are finding that 839R and his lambs are doing particularly well holding condition and eye color during the worm season.

BLW-860R  Our Karison, white, horned twin, born 5/7/05 to dam Serkur triplet BLW-452M.  She is a solid moorit, so 860R carries solid and moorit, and looks to be homozygous for moorit.  In the first photo, looks at the spot of moorit on his left leg, almost certainly a sign that he is homozygous for the moorit color gene.  860R placed third in the National Icelandic Show in Rhinebeck NY, this past October, with the first and second place holders being our Grand Champion and Reserved Champion Rams, so he was in good company indeed.                                                   His show scores on a base of ten are:  Head 8.0, neck and shoulders 8.0, Chest 8.0, Back 8.0, Loin 8.0, Legs 16.0, Wool 8.0, feet 8.0 and harmony 8.0 for a total score of 80.0.

AI BLW-762P - Black/gray, horned single, #583237,  born to STS-779G and AI sire Rektor.  His face is very speckled, he carries spotting.  His fleece is thick with thel, with plenty of tog of a fine texture.  He is particularly good in the chest, inherited from his sire Rektor.  Carries moorit.                                            As a sheared, yearling ram.

BLW-816R, polled white twin, born 4/9/05 to dam BLW-403M and AI sire Kostur.  816R must carry solid and moorit.  He could be homozygous for the moorit gene underneath the white, as his twin is solid moorit.                                                                 His moorit sister 817R is very well-grown, one of the nicest ewes in the yearling pen and is doing an outstanding job with her twins.

BLW-917S One of our real prizes for the year so he got the lion's share of the horned ewes this season.  A horned black/gray son of Grimur and Magda, BLW-343L.  His carbon copy sibling 907S, took Supreme Champion ram at the Michigan Fiber Festival this past August.   The two rams are half brothers, both being sons of Grimur of course, plus on their maternal side they are half cousins with their dams 642N and 343L being half sisters, plus the rams are half uncle to nephew as their dams are a great granddaughter and granddaughter respectively, of Heli.  I can't really figure out their degree of relatedness, but it is very high, explaining why there was hardly a whisker of difference between the two rams all summer.  Alan Leighton, the buyer of 907S had asked me to compare the two when he was trying to choose between them, and the only, very slight differences I could find were that our 917S was a little longer in the topline, and Alan's 907S had a slightly more consistent fleece. So here is our Grimur son 917S:                                                                                                                                          917S is 1/2 Grimur and 1/8 Heli for an AI total of 5/8, plus he is a Solee grandson - wow! Here are some photos of him shorn.                                                                                                                                             917S as a shorn yearling.                                                   His yearling summer. Here are some photos of his fleece which just came off the skirting table, and wow!  3 lbs., 4 oz which is a fantastic weight for a fall lamb fleece, and the tones and hues are spectacular; pearl, silver, mahogany, fog, pewter, platinum and blue.  These are all thumbnails, so click to see a larger view.  Lots and lots of thel!

BLW-920S, a very chunky white twin son of Thokki and Red, STS-858G.  A twin born to an older ewe, none the less, he is very well built, with that beautiful, downy Thokki fleece with little curly ringlets.  922S has small horns, but oh!  That build with that fleece, plus Red's amazing maternal qualities.  Red has had 22 lambs in nine seasons for a lifetime percentage of 233%, and always attentive, always careful with her lambs.  Red has been a carefree, dependable mother all of her years here and we are thrilled to have one of her sons go into the breeding pens this fall.  This ram has an amazing neck and shoulders, very muscular, and a good, beefy leg as well.  All good!     Here are a few shorn photos:                                                                                 I've just skirted his fleece, and it is downy, downy, downy!  Tog is short, and the fleece is just jammed with thel.  Skirted weight, 2 lbs., 5 oz.                                                  This last time we ran the flock through to vaccinate the lambs, I noticed that 920S's fleece has a sheen that catches your ewe, white and shiny and silky; really stands out!

BLW-933S, a solid black, spotted, polled triplet born to BLW-482M and Preston, 801R.  He has his father's long topline, is completely polled, and has one of the silkiest, shiniest fleeces in the ram pen.  His bloodlines are topnotch, with 1/4 Dalur from his dam's side and 1/4 Arfi and 1/8 Buri from his sire's, for an AI total of 5/8.                                                                lamb fleece                  a lamb photo                       lamb fleece                                   yearling fleece                         Some shorn photos:                                                                     We've just skirted his lamb fleece, and it is nice, nice, nice!  Long curly-tipped tog fibers with a silky sheen, and the entire fleece is dense with a thick and downy thel.  Total skirted weight 2 lbs., 11 oz., and it is all nice!

FFC-363P  A polled black bagerface, single born 5/02/04 to sire AI FFC-250M and FFC-210L.  250M is a Flekkurson and there are not many Flekkur offspring left.  Flekkur was a spotted black with a beefy build and plenty of fleece, so I am happy to be bringing in some new Flekkur blood.  Dam 210L is a triplet Hnykill daughter named Blue.  We are VERY pleased with our Hnykill daughter Juno, BLW-194L, so again it is thrilling to be bringing in some new Hnykill blood as well.  Thanks Elaine!   You can research the lines further at http://www.clrc.ca/cgi-bin/pedigree.cgi?_breedcode=IL&_countrycode=CAN&_association=30&_regnumberprefix=&_regnumber=594406&_regnumbersuffix=  In short, he is 50% Flekkur and 25%Hnykill for 75% AI.                                                                                                                                                                                   363P has the rich, charcoal thel undercoat that is so wonderful and so rare.  Can't wait to see his lambs!

BLW-103T   Twin moorit ram born on 4/07/07 to Mori and BLW-733P.  He has small horns so we are using him for breeding our horned ewe lambs this fall, but he also is long, square and chunky in the torso.    (more photos coming soon)  103T will be bred to the following ewe lambs:   BLW-123T, BLW-124T, BLW-131T, BLW-134T, BLW-135T, BLW-142T and BLW-166T.  The ease of lambing allowed by his very small horns is very desirable, as is his moorit color, but also look at his leg, and chest; they are particularly strong.

BLW-109T  White horned AI single born 4/08/07 to BLW-520M and Visir.   He is perhaps our best looking ram lamb of the year, and I can envision him winning a permanent breeding job here.  Visir is known for his excellent build, particularly in the neck and shoulders, back, rump and leg, plus his wool score is an 8.  His daughter scores are very good: milkiness 111, fertility 110, with a composite daughter score of 109, with 100 being the average.  His dam Chub, 520M, is calm, efficient, and consistently gives us large, square, straight lambs.  White, 109T must carry gray or solid pattern, and possibly the moorit color as well.

BLW-138T  Black polled AI single born 4/19/07 to BLW809R and Langidalur.    Langidalur has some very strong scores.  He has 8.5 for neck and shoulders, chest, back, wool and overall symmetry which is mostly a measure of the length of the loin.  His daughters score 106 out of 100 and his mother is said to be a superb milker.  138T is a chesty, muscular ram lamb and we are very pleased to be using him for breeding before he travels to his new home in New Jersey.                           138T has a shy and cautious temperament so usually moves out of range before we can get a photo.  But we will post a shorn photo shortly.

BLW-115T - Black spotted horned AI single born 4/10/07 to our leader Ewe STS-434K and leader AI sire Tigull.  Classic leader build, coloring and style.  Very calm, very watchful.  115T would be a great addition to your leader flock, or he would be a great choice as a teaser ram for VAI.  We have used him his fall and are awaiting his lambs this spring.