Sunday Stills - Boo-dreaux

What does this look like?

That's right! Looks like it's Trick or Treat time again :-).



Boudreaux gave us the perfect canvas for this year's Halloween costume.



Here he is demonstrating just how he maintains that Halloween physique. No smoke. No mirrors. No strings holding that table squarely on his back.



I thought we were being quite resourceful by making fake wine (some bordeaux on Boudreaux) out of grape jello. However, if the wind blows hard enough, that jello will spill too. Fortunately you can just scoop it up and put it back ;-).



Here is my Sunday Stills shot - click to biggify. I'm pretty sure the sun setting on the left is actually a witches fiery cauldron and the clouds are billowing smoke.

Boo!

For more Spooky Sunday Stills...

Nutbush City Limits

Sweet little Iris. Soft, kind eyes. Happy smile. Friend to everyone...

Well, maybe not everyone.



"Yeah, I chased away the really big, mean dog from up the road." (She did.)

"He ran away with his tail between his legs!" (He did.)

"He had a big head start and I ran so fast that thecrazysheeplady thought I might catch him." (She almost did.)

"And he is twice my size, but it didn't matter because I screamed at him the whole time I chased him." (She did.)

"And he didn't even look back." (He didn't.)

"And I love posing for a victory picture." (She does.)



"What was that?!?" (Always on alert.)



"Oh, nothing." (Does this picture make you want to yawn?)



(How about this one?)



(This is not the police. Even though she thinks she's providing great "back up". She doesn't even get to keep a bullet in her pocket. Ever. But she's cute.)

Iris does a great job monitoring the farm. She watches the front. Hank watches the back. At night. He slept through the whole chase scene. Sirens and all.

You better watch out for the police!

Have You Ever Wondered...?

...when you see geese flying in a 'V'...



...why one side is always longer than the other?



.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
There are more geese on that side ;-).

Sorry, it's the only joke I can ever remember besides "Where do bees go to pee?"

You're Invited!

In an effort to force us to completely finish the wool house, we've decided to have an open house. And because we missed seeing Flat Creek Wool and Pottery at the wool festival (and getting all our Christmas shopping out of the way in one fell swoop ;-) we are making Tonya come set up a trunk show for us everyone.



I can't wait for our Ewenice to meet her Ewenice (the character on her mugs, yarn bowls, vases, bowls...).

Not only will Miss Ewenice be there - she loves a good party - but so will Ewen McTeagle, Buddy, Boudreaux, Woolliam, Petunia, Keebler, Graham Lamb, Iris, Weaslie and even Hank. I doubt we'll see much of Claire Bear and Eli, but you can be sure that Brushy and Comby will come looking for some attention...and snacks.

So bring your spinning wheel, your knitting, rug hooking, felting...or just your good company. The festivities will run from 1:00 to 4:00 on Saturday, November 7th. Please drop me an email to get directions to the farm.

Oh, What A Beautiful Morning!

Steam drifting off the big pond.





Frosted fence post.



Something you might not know/realize - as the sun warms the frosted fences, they steam.



I just love that.

Sunday Stills - Landscapes (Fall Foliage)

Another fine day on the river.

For more Fabulous Fall Foliage...

The Birds

The sound on this video does not even begin to do justice to the incredible noise outside. They are everywhere!



I'm not sure if I'm living in a primitive folk art painting or a Hitchcock film this morning.



Weaslie's pretty sure it's the film. Click to biggify. Is that not a sad, worried little Corgi face?

The Magoo Chicken

We lock the Adventure Chickens in their coop at night. A few nights ago, my nightly count came up two chickens short. The two missing chickens were found, caught and placed in their rightful spots on the roost. However, in all the confusion, I forgot to close their door.

I found this mistake the next morning, but thought it a bit odd that with the door already open that no chickens were outside yet. However, it was a cold morning (heavy frost) and I chalked it up to "cold feet".

That night I was two chickens short. Again. This time I couldn't find them. I looked in all their normal hideouts. I tried to think like a chicken (shut up!) and look for a new hideout. Nothing. I finally gave up and shut the coop door with the hope that they'd be there in the morning.

The next morning, no chickens. And again the rest of the flock did not want to come out. It was not nearly so cold and I could find no reason for their behavior except for thinking the worst. They had been scared by something that had come in and probably grabbed their two missing buddies. Most likely the fox we occasionally see passing through.

I was crushed. I'd left the door open and now two chickens were dead. One of which was one of my favorites, a white hen who's been here for years and has to be at least seven years old. The other, one of the "red" chickens.

That night though, when I did my count, I again had nine chickens (should be ten). I was pretty confident that I had not been miscounting all along, so felt a glimmer of hope that maybe the white hen - the one still missing - might still come home. The next morning? Nothing. I had to admit she was gone.

As I continued with my morning chores, I headed over to the sheep run-in to see if it was needed cleaning. Look what I found!



"I don't have a clue where I am!"

To get over here she had to go down the hill to the creek, crawl under the fence, come back up the hill, past the end of the barn and into the sheep paddock. There is a reason they are called the Adventure Chickens. She's just a little directionally challenged.




She was so hungry she had resorted to eating bits of hay. Doesn't it look like that piece of hay is twisted into a heart? As always, click to biggify.



Happily back with her girlfriends and a full bowl of food.



And water.

And all the crazy chicken ladies (and gentlemen ;-) can rest easy.



So why am I now calling her the Magoo Chicken? Magoo is the name we gave our GPS unit. Now I'll give Magoo credit for getting me a lot of places (I too am directionally challenged), but for some reason Magoo frequently finds himself on I-275, the bypass around Cincinnati, about an hour or so from our house. It's his favorite place in the whole world.

Magoo can be so convinced he's on (or should be) I-275 that we are frequently asked to make a "legal u-turn" to get him back there. When we are in New York. Or Chicago. Green Bay. Or Lexington. We try not to think too hard about it.

The fortune cookie message taped to the top is Magoo's highest achievement. For some unknown reason he took us on a particularly funny detour around and around a cemetery in a small town in New York. We had to actually resort to the old fashion method of calling (with a cell phone ;-) the farm we were (supposed to be) headed to. That fortune cookie message was from the dinner we had that night.

Only Magoo.

Only the Magoo Chicken.

I'm glad you are home safe.

Back Atcha, Eli

"So, how'd you end up today, Eli? Catch anything like this?"



"How about this? What? I can't hear you. Oh, I see..."

Eli, you ought to know better than smack talk about fishing.

Saint Tim was finally able to sneak out for a little river time this afternoon. I met up with him as the sun was setting and as we floated near the railroad trestle, a train came thundering through. Pretty exciting. I grabbed a few pictures and then thought, what would City Boy do if he were here? He'd take a video!





This is the under view of the trestle. I thought it was pretty cool at the time. Now I'm thinking it looks pretty, um, small - yikes!



Even in the fading light...beautiful.

Editor's note: no fish were harmed for this Eli rebuttal. Scared maybe probably, but Saint Tim practices catch and release :-).

Hey Loser!

"Dude, I've been out on the creek for an hour already! What do you mean you have to work?!?"



"What was that? A fish (frog) jumping? Maybe I should go check it out."



"Or maybe I'll just take a little nap."

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Indian Summer weather. And remember, a bad day fishing still beats a good day at the office, Saint Tim ;-).

Me? I think a little "seat time" on my pony.

"Spend the afternoon. You can't take it with you." Annie Dillard

Conundrum, Confusion Or Just Plain Crazy?

Spring?



Fall?



Or Christmas?

Sunday Stills - The Letter C

Hmmm - cold, cats, carriages, cookies, Cotswolds...Colored Cotswolds!



I've had a couple questions about why we sheared several sheep this fall. Also a question about the steps from sheep to spinning. Rebecca Boone, a recently shorn Colored Cotswold sheep, is happy to help answer these inquiries and also try for some Sunday Stills shots.

The Cotswolds, Border Leicesters, Wensleydales, Lincolns and several other breeds are considered "long wools". Their wool grows so fast that they are traditionally sheared twice a year, in the spring and once again in the fall. Buddy, Woolliam, Rebecca Boone, Miss Ewenice and Keebler fall into this catagory.

While my average non-long wool sheep produces a staple length of approximately four to six inches per year, the long wools could easily go 12 inches. Wool that long is not only very hot for the sheep, but is also, at that length, no longer very usable.

And while I would have prefered to have had them all sheared by the last part of September, everyone has already started growing back plenty of wool to get them comfortably through the winter. I've been told they only need 36 hours to reacclimate, but I'm not happy until they start looking fuzzy and insulated. Keebler's hair is already an inch and a half long.



Colorful Curls



Washed and ready to run through the Triple Picker. I could do a whole series of shots on the Patrick Green Triple Picker, but that would be a better Halloween post. This shot is pretty tame!



From the picker to the (hand crank) carder, which "brushes or combs" the curls.



Ready to spin. Note, I had so much fun using my new wheel that I completely forgot to take pictures of the spinning process. You'll just have to use your imagination.



Spun, plied, washed and ready to knit.



I wasn't happy with last night's inside lighting, so just took and added a natural light shot. Still not great, but good practice.

From sheep to swatch.

To "C" more Sunday Stills...