KNITTING WITHOUT DOG HAIR IS NOT AN OPTION

... arrived last weekend! Yes, my adopted "daughter" sent her first little newsletter (actually the the farmowner wrote the note) and a wonderful bar of sheep soap:

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few bits with you from the letter:

"There are 6 known leadersheep lines that have been imported from Iceland and Claudia is directly related to three of them. Leadersheep are "smart sheep". There are tales in Iceland of leadersheep leading their flock down from the mountains to their home grazing land when there was a snowstorm and the shepherd was unable to retrieve his flock.

The first time I met Claudia (this the farmowner, not me, unfortunately) was when I traveled to Minnesota to purchase her along with four other lambs. As I approached her she faced me directly and stomped her foot at me three times... then rounded up all of the other ewe lambs she was with and led them out of the barn.

Claudia is currently in a pasture with eight other breeding ewes and Poitphar, our black grey ram. We paint Potiphar's brisket so that we know by the paint on the ewes' rumps when they were bred (now, that is interesting...). This helps us to know when to expect Claudia to lamb so that we can be available if needed. Gestation is 142 days so we expect that she will lamb on April 24th unless she cycles again and is bred later. Because Icelandics come in so many colors and patterns, it is always a surprise to see what the lamb looks like. My husband and I like to guess what each ewe will have. I predict that Claudia will have a morrit gray ram lamb."

How fun - I can't wait to get her next letter in spring. Hopefully she will include a picture of Claudia and her little lamb! And I still can't believe that I got the adopt-a-sheep program from my SNB friends for Christmas.

Hubby and I are going to Cirque Du Soleil tonight. I can't wait - I think this is my 4th show and they are always so interesting and artsy to watch. This one is called Corteo.