Remembering Chloe January 23 2023 3 Comments

Last week, one of our older ewes, Chloe, passed away peacefully. It's always hard to lose a flock-member, even if it is to old age - that just means she had a longer and larger impact on our lives. 

Chloe was born to one of our founding Shetland ewes, Ginny. She was a gorgeous black lamb with scattered white patches, concentrated on her face and neck, and sugar lips. One of my first Shetlands with a pattern, I was eager to figure out how to classify her pattern. I settled on Blettet, whether or not that was accurate. Within a few months, her black fleece was turning gray at the roots.

Chloe (lamb) and her mother, Ginny.

Chloe with her first lamb, a white ram lamb.

She was always friendly, a trait she passed on to her lambs, and had lovely soft gray fleece with some darker fibers running through it. Over the years, she gifted us with three ram lambs and one ewe lamb, Fergie. Fergie gave us twins at our last lambing (two years ago) and is bred again this year. Luckily Fergie inherited the lovely gray fleece and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a gray ewe lamb out of her in the spring.

Chloe with her twin lambs, Fergie and Fergus.

Being winter, and a REAL winter at that with over two feet of snow on the ground, it's a little hard to access the far pasture where we take the animals who have left us. I had to have my daughter strap my snowshoes on to my feet as my right arm is out of commission (fractured elbow due to fall off ladder...not recommended!) and we put Chloe onto a sled to haul her across the pastures. It was really hard physical work, but I spent the frequent breaks speaking to her, reminiscing about her life, and saying goodbye. 

Sometimes farming is tough, sometimes beautiful, and oftentimes both. I'll miss giving Chloe chin scratches when she greets me at the fence, but her legacy lives on in the lambs she gave us. Goodbye, sweet Chloe. 

Chloe was always one to greet kids for treats and scratches.