Requiem For Rowan

Rowan was one of our elderly retired ewes.  Yes, that is unfortunately past tense because she died Monday.  I just came back from some final touches to her grave.  I’m going to miss her.

She had some of the most wonderful Shetland sort of fleece, with a double coat, long staple, and velvety soft.  She was a great mother, and had the most beautiful lambs!

This was the last live lamb she had, a wonderful little guy with moorit colored fleece.

His mama took good care of him.

The year before that she had a lovely little white ram lamb.  We didn’t have many white lambs.  Shetlands have such a variety of beautiful colors, it seemed a shame to do much breeding for white.

I called him Casper.  It seemed appropriate.

In her prime, Rowan was apt to have twins.  She always had plenty of milk for them.  And they were always such beautiful lambs, too!

The lamb on the left ended up with shaela colored fleece (dark steely-grey, like black frost), and the lamb on the right is moorit (dark reddish brown).

And did I mention what a wonderful, patient mother she was?

I mean really, REALLY patient!

She never seemed to mind when her lambs used her for a jungle gym. 

And Rowan was even a good babysitter!  There would often be other lambs hanging out with hers.

Being of friendly disposition, Rowan also got along with her fellow sheep.  Here she is with a couple of her fellow retired buddies this last spring, not too awfully long after being sheared.

Here they are later in the summer, after their wool grew out a little.

She had wonderful fleece, gave birth to beautiful lambs, was a good mother with plenty of milk, had a good disposition. . . what more can you ask from a sheep?  She deserved her retirement and I enjoyed having her around.

I’m really going to miss her.