It was a lucky day at Farthing Stone Farm when Violet came to join the flock. She is a wonderful, tiny diva with a giant personality. Violet was rejected by her mother so was bottle fed by her foster family. We assume her loud demands for feeding at all hours motivated them to bring her straight to our farm the minute she was weaned. We got Violet at a discount because she was so small they feared that she might not survive. Thankfully Violet was, and is, a determined little girl – we watched her working hard every day to grow and prosper. She was so tiny, about 15 pounds (10 or 15 pounds lighter than the other lambs), and full of verve and attitude. Although she will never be as big as most of the sheep, she is now a healthy, thriving princess.
Especially as a lamb, Violet was a very sociable girl – we believe she thought of herself as human. Even now, she seems to have a worldview that is unique for a sheep. Back then, she showed our other two lambs that they could be comfortable with us. Observing Violet, all the rest of the sheep also learned how to relate to their human servants a little better. The whole disposition of the flock was uplifted thanks to this crazy elfin being!
With Violet, her appearance seems a perfect match for her personality. The Shetland term for her face markings, the white eye crescents and white ear linings, is gulmoget, a somewhat rare trait. But a true gulmoget also has a dark body with a light underside, and Violet has a light body. Her head, neck and patches around her shoulders are mostly moorit (reddish brown). When spun, her wool is a pretty taupe color and so luxuriantly soft!
