More introductions

Cordele and Ila

Remember when we said we were waiting until July to get our sheep? Well, that timing didn't work so well for the farmer in south Georgia, so we decided we could make it happen now. Tomorrow or the next day, there's a movable electric mesh fence coming via UPS. It'll bridge the gap until all of our permanent fencing is done, and it'll be useful anyway. The s.o. may never mow again! (He got a little glow on his face when he realized that.)

So allow me to introduce our two pretty ladies. The ewe lamb in the previous pic had been carried off by another customer in the two days since we'd seen her--remember that these sheep are in a lot of demand around here!--so we ended up with two nice-looking five-month-olds instead. It's a very good age, I think, the only drawback being that they'll probably refer to Green #8 as "Pipsqueak," "Shortstuff," or "Junior" for the first few months while he catches up with them size-wise.

We decided to name our sheep after towns in Georgia. So the one in the front is Cordele (pronounced cor-DEAL), and the one in back is Ila (EYE-la).

Cordele is the leader, the more confident of the two. In transport, she was the first one to figure out that lying down was a good idea. She's got a darker, sheepier face and a flash of white on her tail.

Ila is taller and has a lighter, haughtier, more Roman-nosed face--a little like a Nubian goat, or like a bust of Cleopatra. She is more wary, but also calmer when caught.

I think they're beautiful! And they seem healthy and happy, none the worse for the trip. I love their personalities. Really, we couldn't be more pleased.

Oh, I almost forgot: It poured rain. Poured. The first drops came as we pulled up the truck, and then it came in sheets and buckets and gullywashes. I wish you could have seen the smile on the farmer's face.