Bonnie produced this delightful large black boy all on her own (1st time Mum).  He was up and about really quickly and is growing out well.

Notice there's so Sire's name - well, we think Jet is possibly the product of our smallest twin (Timmy) getting up to mischief at about 16 months old (when he was supposed to be too young) and only having one tiny "goolie" about the size of a large pea at the time!!!  We were sure he was harmless and were awaiting development of the other "goolie" before he was castrated. However, he became Bonnie's 'closest friend' and we wondered about potential mating prospects but laughed it off as "no, he's so tiny (about the size of a 6 month old at the time) and she's a large normal 18 month old, there's not a chance" !!!  DNA testing will tell us if he had the last laugh!!! 

Meanwhile, we enjoy this lovely boy with the most gorgeous shiny blue-black fibre bouncing around.

Mila (pronounced Meela) was really tiny - her dam Mara was so thin we thought she'd lost her pregnancy as we couldn't see any bulge or any udder development when she was being shorn.  However, a week after shearing out popped this little treasure - only about 4.7kg but active with a good instinct for where the "milk-bar" was!  We wondered if Mara would produce enough milk because of her slight frame, but as Mila is packing on the weight - 6.4kg at 12 days old, and 8-9 kg at 3 weeks, we know we needn't be concerned any more.

We decided to call her Milagros which is Spanish for "miracle" because she is - partly because her dam hid her so well that we thought she wasn't there and also because she's survived despite being small.

It's also because of all the "M" names in her family: Mara (mum); Mirella (grandma) and Mavra (great-grandma)!!!

What a stunner of a classic silver grey - she's so precious.

Manny's name comes from someone writing "Mananello" on the back of the slip of paper which goes into the Showring armband when we were exhibiting Amaretto (his mother).   How that was arrived at from Amaretto's name, we're not sure, but we've got so much fun out of it, we've used it for her first cria!!  (Someone may like to change it if he's sold with his mum before registration)!!

Anyway, in the pouring rain both Amaretto and Peace had their first cria within half an hour of each other.  Manny was a good sized 8kg and Amaretto instantly became a very protective and nurturing mother. This young boy looked dark brown but has "coloured-up" to Roan as he's growing because he's packed full of "grey genes".

Peace is owned by someone else, so we're waiting for a suitable name to be given to her first little boy.  We call him PC in the meantime (Peace's Cria)!! Not surprisingly he's a solid black like his parents.

Born on the same day at Amaretto's boy and also in the rain, PC was smaller at 6.4kg and Peace had a difficult time as she's not as large framed as Amaretto.  However, she's become an excellent mother and these boys, along with the older 2 cria, plus 1 younger are seen tearing around the paddock at dusk, enjoying themselves.

In the photo, Peace's cria is tucked up on our right (her left) with young Mila having to pose in almost every photo also!!

What a surprise that out of 2 silver greys comes this apparently dark brown male cria.  We know he's potentially stud male quality just looking through his fibre at a couple of weeks old, and knowing his ancestry - but we really thought Sassy would produce a silver grey.  However, he was born with no dramas and is growing as well as any of Sassy's cria grow out. 

We will be watching him closely as long as he's still at our place - he certainly has potential.  His name (which new owners can change if they want) simply reflects the 'Z' from his dad's name!!

Photo to come.

Olena arrived when we were away - a huge cria which her mum Octavia birthed herself.  This wee girl is growing rapidly and is the image of her sire, Grenadier when he was born.  His colouring settled into a solid light fawn and his fleece remains at 22.8 micron at over 4 years of age.

Octavia's fleece is still marketable even though she has more guard hair than some others, so we expect this little girl to take after her sire and older half-brother Orinoco and have fine, lustrous fleece for spinners for a good few years - maybe more.

What a delightful little package arrived in our paddock without any fuss.  This little girl was up and about, wandering off from Mum very quickly, yet knowing who to go back to and where the "milk bar" was !!

She and her mum, Warrior Princess would make a lovely package for someone. 

This handsome wee lad arrived during the morning, not causing his experienced Mum any trouble to birth.  He began as a dusky light fawn but his pristine white fleece is already showing through at the roots.  As both his dam and sire have lovely spinable fleeces, we have no doubt Kutaz will have a commercially viable fleece and be a potential stud male as he grows.

Lady as always is being a superb mum to her new offspring.  Both she and Kutaz are for sale.

See "more details" for a further photo

A dear little dark brown girl arrived in the morning - just before some really bad weather was due to hit!!  She's Clarissa's first girl after 4 boys, so we're delighted.  She and mum were kept safe in the stable while the bad weather went through (along with Lady and her then 2 day old boy).

This wee girl is a delightful rich, dark brown with black 'points' face and lower legs.  The lustre of her fibre is wonderful as is the crimp already showing through.