Gute – silva kurls

31 Jan 2020

January – summer is here… and what else have we done?

Summer took a long time to get off the ground, weather wise, but now it is hot and dry, no pleasing some especially the sheep ‘ we’z hot and where’z lunch’; the grass is all brown and tasteless.

This is the view we came back to after we finished our holiday in Waipara for a week.

As you know I am breeding Gotland Pelt sheep, for their fleece and I am also interested in their history. The photos below are of our resident Gute-like sheep, Bob.

The reason I am telling you about this is because I also have another hobby related to the history of these sheep, namely the Gute. They are a Swedish breed left on the island of Gotland during the Viking period (circa 800-1100 AD).

My interest in the Gotland/Gute sheep has been expanded because of a group called the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). If you wish to know more about the SCA, please click on the link above.

This group looks and history from 600 AD to 1600 AD and tries to recreate some of the things that were done in history, for example, medieval fighting, archery, rapier (modern fencing) and the arts (i.e.: crafts such as spinning, weaving, fibre, wool, to name a few). My interest with the Gute is primarily researching their fleece, temperament, genetics and relationship to modern sheep.

The SCA enables me to pursue certain aspects of ‘medieval life’ that I am interested in and having sheep producing wool which I can then process by period spinning (drop-spindle) or modern techniques (spinning wheel) means I can use my hobby in my every day life as well.

Our holiday in Waipara was an event that happens annually where a group of people who are also interested in medieval history get together to talk, play and make things as in the medieval period.

I enjoy spinning, as well as dressing up in the Viking/Swedish clothes of that period.

22 Dec 2019

Counting down to Christmas … but work goes on

The weather plays a big part in life on our farm; the rain, snow, sun and wind have been major events in the last few weeks. It’s a wonder that anything has survived the battering but it has. I had a plot full of lavender that was enjoying the rain and sun ( not the wind so much). I watched the row of ‘Pacific Blue’ lavender, always the first to bud, bloom and now ready to harvest. This plant has a beautiful colour and a fragrance of lavender and camphor.

This morning’s task was to cut and bundle the lavender to dry in the dark and cool shed – I used our workshop shed for this purpose.

The other variety of lavender is ‘Grosso’ known for its perfume. This patch will not be ready until mid January.

After the drying process I will try my hand at making products out of this small harvest; maybe teas, scented bags, pot pouri or bath scents. This is just a hobby but a sweet smelling one.

The other task yesterday was collecting hay for the ‘girls’ for next year when they (hopefully) will be pregnant.

Mowing lawns, watering plants are all part of the farm life. Oh and of course looking after the ‘girls and boys’.

“So where’s dinner…… where are the nuts wez hungry” (not really there’s plenty of grass)

Let me introduce you to the flock:

1	Sugar – Salt’s wether lamb
2	Lumpy – Pepper’s ewe lamb
3	Bob – Chocolate’s wethered lamb
4	Suzie – foundation ewe
5	Dime – Pepper’s wethered lamb
6	Salt – foundation ewe
7	Pepper – foundation ewe
8	Doe Eyes – Suzie’s ewe lamb
9	Nickel – Suzie’s ewe lamb (and poster girl)
10	Chocolate – foundation ewe

15 Dec 2019

Mid December – visited another Gotland farm

As I mentioned in the last post I am planning to breed my flock next year, so with that in mind I have visited a couple of people who also have Gotland sheep. I am looking for a nicely formed ram who has good fleece, nice temperament and good body structure.

A few weeks ago I visited a nearby farm to see a very nice male Gottie; he is very much like the Gute sheep with very nice horns and a lovely fleece.

If you have read my page about the ancestry of the Gotland Pelt sheep you will know that this breed is a ‘polled’ sheep (the gene for horns has been bred out of the Gotlands).

Although this ram has obvious genes reverting back to the ancestral type of Gute breed, I am still interested in this boy as he could breed some animals with fleece similar to the older bred.

The other farm we have just returned from is The Woolshed Canaan in Motueka – Nelson district.

Jessica also has some very nice Gotland Pelt sheep and particularly a ram with lovely grey fleece, and a nice body shape.

With Christmas just around the corner, my thoughts will stray from sheep breeding for now but in the new year I will plan who I want to breed from come the spring of 2020 (September/October).

25 Nov 2019

22nd November 2019 – shearing day

Well the day arrived; all flock were kept in the stockyard overnight ready for shearing in the morning. It was a lovely fine day and they all wanted to ‘get that wool’ off. We also gave them earrings for identification. Up till now I have identified them with names only, now I can follow their life with an easily identified option. The earrings are: boys on the right, as “boys are always right” says the shearer, and girls on the left.

My job starts now; I identified all sheep by the ear number and that is the number of the fleece, so I can match fleece with individual animals.

When it comes time to sell the fleece I will match up information on each of the animals; their name, birth details, parents and grandparents. This is important for us as we want people who purchase any products from us to know and understand each animal as an individual.

In the next few weeks I will post each animal’s fleece and what I hope to achieve with it.

Keep watching:

30 Oct 201931 Oct 2019

Our Gotland – Gute sheep

I have been researching the Gotland Pelt sheep for several months now and in my research have been fascinated by the ancestry of this breed, the Gute.

I talk about the Gute in my page on the ancestry of our flock a little and now that one of our flock are showing signs of having some links back to the Gute, I am keen to explore this avenue further.

Below are pictures of the flock and of Bob, as we’ve named him – a wether – with the traits mentioned under the pictures.

Look at the cream fleece at the bottom of the coat

These pictures of Bob suggest that he could have genes relating to the Gute. His father – Otahu pictured next to the original Gute from Gotland suggests that the genes from this ram have produced an offspring with similar traits to the original Gute breed.

the gute had horns whereas the Gotland are Polled sheep (are breed with no horns)
the gute have three types of fleece; long guard hair, shorter summer coat and a soft down coat grown in the winter.
Bob exhibits the horns and has a triple fleece.

If this sheep does have the gene back to the Gute, then the fleece from this sheep could be exceptional. We will keep the fleece separate at shearing to test and spin up according to the properties it suggests; ie for weaving – using the guard hair fleece, and for soft garments – using the cream undercoat.

Pictures will be posted at shearing time on Bob’s fleece. This will be about November 2019.