Rainy Monday

The rain and gloom somehow suit my mood on this Monday before Thanksgiving.  Gone are the vibrant orange, yellow and greens of fall as winter moves in and claims our portion of Wisconsin.  No fresh snow has fallen to cover the sea of brown that is the view from our windows right now.  The trees are blown barren of their leaves and the brush has thinned to stands of twigs and branches.  This may all sound pretty depressing, and at first, I thought so too. But, then I remembered..........all this dormancy is in preparation for the renewal of life!!!
Soon, our world will be blanketed in a pristine blanket of snow, insulating our future growth until spring.
All of our careful culling, selecting and gathering will bear fruit in just a few months, and we can begin the glorious task of posting lambs on our blogs for all to see once again.
In my mind, there's nothing quite like seeing the successful results from a breeding program.  It's such a rush to know that you are the only one that decided what ewe would be put with any given ram.  You are the one that decides what traits you are breeding towards according to how you've interpreted the breed standard, you are the one that gets that little butterfly in your stomach when you see something that speaks to your soul and says, "This is what I envisioned for my herd".  Keep those visions and goals, be steadfast in your determination to forge ahead towards what you believe in and be glad in the knowledge that you are doing it for yourself and your herd.
I am very excited about this coming year, there's a lot of great things in the works and lots of great people out there.  I've met so many friendly Shetland breeders in the last few years, and not a single one of them has ever been anything but helpful and encouraging to me.  Thank you to all of you........Corinne, Juliann, Theresa, Stephen, Karen, Meghan, Jen, Nancy, Kim, Chris, Michelle, Garrett, the list goes on and on.
I guess what started out as a gloomy Monday has transformed into a day full of friendship, hope and optimism for me.
TaTa for now all,