Shearing Angora kids

I worked up the energy yesterday to shear one of the triplet Angora kids, Babette.  While she protested at first, she soon realized, "Ahhhh! I can feel air on my skin again!"

Then today, I managed to get Brie, Barney, and Dove sheared.  So all the 2013 kids have now had their first shearing.  In spite of the cold coming in, I must spend this week shearing the 3 adults.  I looked at their fleeces today and if I don't get them removed in the next week or so, I will lose those fleeces.  The kids will get to spend time in a stall in the barn far removed from the wind.  I don't want them chilling.
I happened to remember that I sheared one of the BFL ram lambs before sending him to market.  I have 20 ounces of beautiful white BFL lamb fleece that would be awesome blended with some of the kid mohair.  I can't wait to get started!

Merry Christmas!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Luke

7 And she brought forth her ^afirstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the ^binn.

 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the^aglory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you ^agood tidings of great ^bjoy, which shall be to all people.

 11 For unto you is ^aborn this day in the city of David a^bSaviour, which is Christ the ^cLord.

 12 And this shall be a ^asign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 14 ^aGlory to God in the highest, and on earth ^bpeace, good will toward men.

 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

 16 And they came with ^ahaste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

 18 And all they that heard it ^awondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 19 But Mary kept all these things, and ^apondered them in her heart.

 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

A legend?  I think not.  The story of Jesus Christ is written by ancient prophets in both the Bible and The Book of Mormon.  His story is a true and will inspire your life and bring you closer to God.  To read more about the birth of our Saviour go to http://www.lds.org/

Angora Billy Goats

I still have two Angora billy goats that I need to sell because they are related to all my girls.  Billy will be 2, April 2014.  As a 9-month old, he bred two of my does.  The one doe had a set of triplets (2 does, 1 billy), the other doe being her first kid had a single.  The billy kid's name is Barney (one of the triplets) and he has beautiful fleece and lots of it.  His fleece extends to his face and sometimes blocks his vision so trimming is essential.  Barney will be 1 in June of 2014.

I would like $100 each for these billys or a trade for an Angora billy of similar quality.  I can drive half way (up to 150 miles) for a trade.

As for does, I plan on keeping the two triplet does and hope for a good season again this year.  If interested, any doe kids born this year will be for sale.  This post was updated 28 December 2013.

Silent Night

I try to keep politics out of my blog, but tonight I heard on the radio where a NYC school took the song "Silent Night" and eliminated any religious words from the song and re-wrote it so as not to 'offend' anyone.  I am offended that anyone would even think to do that to one of the most beautiful, but yes, religious Christmas songs there is.  What was their real purpose?  There are hundreds of Christmas songs that are non-denominational.  Why not sing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "The Twelve Days of Christmas," or any other number of Christmas songs that leave out Christ?

I am tired of our nation's need to ALWAYS be politically correct.  We are so obsessed with not offending anyone with anything.  Yet, no one cares if they offend us.  Take for instance women wearing burkhas.  I don't know about anyone else, but my parents taught me the philosophy of "When in Rome, do what the Romans do."  In other words, fit in and quit trying to stand out.  I see so many people screaming loudly "Look at Me!" through their actions and what they wear (tattoos included).  Is this really fitting in?  Why can't we celebrate the real reason for Christmas?  If we don't want to publicly celebrate the birth of the Christ child, then let's just do away with the holidays and pretend it is just another week of the year.

Oh! Wait! We can't do that!!! What would merchants do without Black Friday and the need to sell stuff to get out of the red?  So I guess we will continue to celebrate Christmas and eventually no one will really know what the holiday is all about.  I hope not.  So I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Please try to remember the Christ is the reason for the season and with out Him, there would be no Christmas.