This week's Sheep of the Week is Burrnie :-D.
Burrnie's story isn't anywhere near as harrowing as Renny's was, but it's not for the faint of heart either. He came out of a horrible neglect situation and was rescued by Nistock Farm back in 2013. He moved here in February of 2014 and has been a fun addition to the flock.
I teasingly call him a Sesame Street character because even though his wool is a creamy white, everything else about him, like his hair and skin is yellow. Even his dark red "eye score" (a way to check for anemia from parasites - dark red is good) is tinged in yellow. I'm sure he has some Tunis in his background.
Burrnie loves being here and loves sleeping in the the barn with all his friends. He used to always sleep right in the middle of the stall in the middle of everyone, but I'm starting to find him sleeping on the "hill" between the inside and outside stalls lately. I think he does that because he's starting to have some trouble getting up :-/.
If you scroll back through the blog and IG, there are quite a few pictures of Burrnie sound asleep at the night check. He frequently doesn't even wake up as I walk through and tell everyone good night. Even after all these years I still love to see him sleeping like that. Everyone should feel that safe and secure.
This is as close to a baby picture as we have, taken while in quarantine at Nistock Farms. You can see how he got his name. It's hard to believe he was ever that small.
"I'm pretty big now and my eyes aren't nearly as bugged out. I've never gotten covered in burrs like that again, but I don't mind my name. I'm proud of being tough enough to get through all that with the help of some nice people."
"Here is me getting carried out to the car when I moved to Kentucky. I was much fatter by then, but Andy just scooped me up and carried me all the way up the stairs and out the door. I don't think he could do that now haha."
There are a ton of good Burrnie stories if you scroll back through the blog. I'd forgotten about his first cookie party and putting him out with some of the boys and Daniel causing so much trouble. Or that he and Maisie used to be good friends. There are a couple of references to that. Maybe one of the best stories was Bill shearing him blindfolded. Burrnie's always been a good sport.
Burrnie has a fairly short fleece, but it's on the finer side so a bit softer than the longwools. I spun and knit a hat for Robin from what I could salvage from his first shear and I've used it for felting several times. Burrnie's main job here is just being a happy sheep :-).
