recently, we met with a local shepherd who raises romney and border leicester sheep. kenny also met with a local suffolk shepherd. both shepherds will sell us lambs when we're ready (and when their lambs are weaned). suffolk sheep are raised for their meat, while romney and leicester sheep are known for their wool, specifically for hand spinners.

kenny, dad, and i spent saturday cutting down all the low branches from the trees that will be inside the fence of the pasture. now we can see a bigger area of the pasture from the house. we have a small shed that's already in the area that will house the lambs until the barn is built. we hope to begin digging post holes this weekend, and then quickly get the fencing set up. as soon as the fence is up, we're ready for the lambs!

we hope to build the barn over the rest of the summer and fall as the sheep get bigger (and woolier!) for hay storage and more room for indoor feeding when it snows.

we also called a very local jersey cow farm (5 miles away) and they always have a calf that they're weaning and are also willing to sell us a calf. we hope to get a calf sometime in the spring. she will be housed in the barn with the sheep but won't be milking-ready until after she has her first calf (you aren't supposed to impregnate a jersey until about 18 months of age). so she'll be a pet for a while before she becomes a "working" pet. we haven't decided what we'll do with her calves - either raise them for meat, if they're male, or to sell as another milking cow.

a lot of work to go...but we're getting closer and closer! the shepherd who raises the romney and leicesters is also a hand spinner, and he promised me a few lessons once we get our sheep. i'm very eager to get started back on the wheel again...especially with our own wool!

we need to locate a shearer for the sheep, a vet for all the animals, and an "inseminator technician" which is exactly what it sounds like. apparently, it's not much money to have a technician come out with a syringe of bull semen, but there is an "arm fee" that comes with each insemination. we haven't asked yet what that means, but we're pretty sure we have figured it out. i would certainly not want THAT job.