A Tale Of Two Pictures

My idea for going back to my "roots" and using the big camera to not only take better pictures, but also pictures more inspiring for blogging seems to be helping.  I love my quick grab iPhone shots because they are frequently telling a story, but the more traditional pictures remind me of why I enjoyed photography and blogging in the first place.  

This may have something to do with computers versus phone screens.  Everything looks fine on a phone screen.  When I post a phone shot over here on the blog/computer, there always seems to be something missing.  I think quality.  Not that an interesting phone shot telling a quick story isn't a good photograph, but maybe the artistic depth isn't always there?

Something to chew on...

I saved this picture from a foggy morning a couple of days ago.

I grabbed this story as I was walking up from shutting the field gate last night.

I'm glad to have both.  And I guess that is the bottom line.

In And Out

Murphy leads everyone out...and also back in.  I still just find this so interesting.  I'd love to know why they put him in charge.  Or maybe they just let him put himself in charge.  Regardless...

The Breakfast Bar

One thing you can never say about Maisie is that she's a chicken...unless there is chicken scratch grain on the ground and then she is totally a chicken ;-).  Makes for a good new puzzle.

The Renny Sweater

The Kentucky Shepherd's Market on Saturday went really well.  We had great vendors and a good crowd, excellent food, perfect weather and tons of fun.  Auntie Reg was there to keep things rolling in the booth so I was able to teach drop spindle lessons throughout the day and that made my day.

Well, maybe what really made my day was wearing my Renny sweater for the first time.  Yeah, I'd never even put it on after it was finished.  This is not the first time I've done that.  Remember the Rebecca Boone capelet story?  I've yet to wear the Lamb Camp Bottle Lamb poncho.

Why is that?  

The Rebecca Boone capelet knit up without a hitch if I remember correctly, but the Renny sweater took years to get the colors right and pattern settled.  I loved both items when they were finished, but I think I was worried the capelet would be too short or I'd look silly wearing it and that the Renny sweater wouldn't fit right or be comfortable to wear or something and then I would no longer love them as much.  

You'd think after learning my lesson about the capelet that I wouldn't be so funny about wearing the other two items.  I wonder if part of the poncho is because of the trauma of losing Abby and Early.  I miss those two lambs especially, but I've also backed way off enjoying all the lambs like in the old Lamb Camp days.  The poncho was made for lambing time.

I got lots of compliments on my sweater Saturday and when I told the story of not wearing it before, everyone understood and one knitter even finished my sentence for me "...you were afraid you'd no longer love it."  

That might be the beauty of gathering together for events like these.  I ended the day feeling inspired and encouraged and...a little less crazy.  And, like the Rebecca Boone capelet, I now love the Renny sweater even more.

I Finally Did It

I've avoided it as long as I could, but finally got coerced into making a drop spindle instruction video.  It took about 42 tries and on try 43 I finally got rolling...and Archie showed up.  That cat.  I didn't want to chance having to try for take 44, 45, 46... so I just kept going and no one was injured during the video and I didn't mess up and use any grown up words ;-).  It's actually sort of funny.

I uploaded it to IG because I know how to do that and it is a link that can be saved and reused.  I'll try to figure out how to post it YouTube next week.  I'm rushing around right now trying to get everything ready for The Fall Kentucky Shepherd's Market Day on Saturday.  It's going to be a really fun event!

If you'd like to learn how to use a drop spindle, here you go.  I'll also be teaching in person at the market on Saturday :-).

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The end of the video got cut off (even IG wanted me to shut up ;-) so I posted the last two minutes separately.

 

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Whiskers

When I first looked at this picture I was drawn to the contrast between the wool and the wood, but then I noticed her white nose.  When did that happen?  Some sheep go gray just like people do.  Of course, as a naturally colored Clun Forest, Kaala's already known for being gray (her fleece), but I had to go back and look to see when her muzzle started turning.

Kaala got here in 2018...so that makes her...maybe nine...ten?  I wonder if her ear tag has a date on it.

The Ol' Sneak Attack

I saw Burrnie sleeping in the sun this morning and tried to sneak in and take a picture...but he caught me.  This is his favorite sleep spot when it's warm.  When it gets cold, he moves in to the middle of the stall, about 10 feet from this position.  Cozier, but no pillow :-/.

I realized that when I hit a big run of blog posts, it's usually because I've taken pictures with the big girl camera and not my phone.  I have to manually download those picture to the computer, but when they are  on the computer, it's easy and fun to create a blog post...like in the olden times.  Plus I like them better :-).

I'm making a bigger effort to use my beloved camera more and thereby use my beloved blog more.  

Would you like a new puzzle?  I'm going to try to remember to do them more as well.

Cheers!

October

October was a blur, but it was pretty much a fun blur.  I missed posting about pretty much all of it.  I even missed taking pictures of one of the fun things because I left not only my camera, but also my phone at home.  That was unintentional.  Sigh...

The biggest event of October was obviously The National Drive.  There are several pictures and videos included here.  I'd love to say I'll get back to post more stories and pictures, but if we've learned nothing else...that very rarely happens so here are some highlights you can watch for as the video plays:

We saw the northern lights one night!  One of my favorite memories is my friends out walking around in the dark taking pictures and texting me that they were not too far from my camp so Bea and I jumped out of our warm (it was cold up there a couple of nights) and went out to join them.  I was wearing sheep pajamas so it was extra epic haha.

My friend Amy has a new horse and she and Remy came to the Drive.  It was big fun.  They both did a Really Good Job and we had a great time together at horse camp :-D.

Another friend, Julie, came over and I hadn't seen her in years.  She was originally a horse friend, but was also the first person who sat me down at her spinning wheel and let me try it out.  I spun some Punkin roving and will never forget that feeling.  Oh, Julie also took that great picture of Punkin I use on his page.  It was so nice to see her.

Bea had a blast with all her aunties and 20 not only did Safari Drive photos again this year, but also got to drive one of the trains next door.  

The Italian dinner was incredibly good and fun.  I wish we all lived closer.

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Archie made sure I didn't leave him out this month.  There's some footage of Tim cleaning the barn...which is fun to watch if you ain't cleaning the barn ;-).  Pinot had a good month too now that it's cooled down and he can go out more.  The market day over at Country Boy was fun.  

Hug a Sheep Day was perfect in guests and weather.  Maisie's Halloween costume was a hit - maybe our best one yet, well, except maybe the angel one.  My bumpy pumpkin is still hanging in there, but fading fast.  I wish they could all live forever.

We are a week in to November now...speaking of blurs!

Monday Morning Magic

I was up early this morning.  Dogs, sheep, horses and shepherds don't understand daylight savings/wasting time.  I decided to go organize my Christmas card stock and make up some individual year packets I was low on.

I don't sell a lot of cards anymore.  I think mostly because I'm not setting up at the big Wool Festival in Falmouth, but also, sadly, I don't think people send cards like they used to.  I love getting cards.  I love sending cards.  Yes, I will be painting a card this year.  It's just going to be a little different ;-).

As I noted my inventory, there were two years I felt were getting too low.  I wrote out a "purchase order" (aka note to Tim on the back of a used envelope) and realized this would probably be the last time he'd need to print cards for me.  I took it kind of hard.

I then walked outside as the sun was rising and it felt like spring and there were birds singing that I don't think should be here, and the lilac bush is blooming again (fourth time this year) and I saw a group of Bradford pears blooming the other day...and it's November.

There's a lot going on these days.  A lot that feels very heavy, personally, nationally and globally.  My horse is lame, my sheep are getting old, the planet is on fire.  Bea and I headed out for a walk and I caught myself noticing trash on the side of the road rather than the beautiful leaves, green moss on a decaying tree trunk, the scuttle of little creatures.  

Time to git yer head on straight!

A bit later I was poking around the Wool House looking for some tasty greens for Pinot and I spotted a tiny dot of color.  "Now what's blooming that shouldn't be?!?" 

(head. straight.)  

A tiny zinnia, smaller than a blade of grass!  And it has two more buds! 

The zinnias who worked so hard all summer tossed out some seeds and one volunteered to stand up and bloom this fall, sheltered under the frosted dried leaves left from a long, dry summer.  

Isn't that delightful!

The Great Bumpkin

I haven't carved a pumpkin in several years.  I always have great intentions and then seem to run out of time or motivation or something.  This year, as I was picking out some decorative pumpkins at the local farm market, the bumpy one just called to me to become a Cotswold sheep.  So I did.

I wish I'd left some details in her ears.  That was the original sketch, but I got carried away carving and forgot.  I toyed with adding them in the next day, but she doesn't know I messed that up and I'm not going to tell her.  She's just fine,  just as she is :-).

A practice run in the dark feed room.  I love that there is just enough light to show her bumps well.

Her spot on the Wool House porch.

And lit up for the night.  The sprinkling of rain was annoying for most of the festivities, but made a nice addition to this picture.

This is a special shout out to The Great Pumpkin and his younger brother.  The orange and yellow pumpkin showed up around mid summer as a volunteer across the road from our mailbox.  The green speckled one was a late arrival just a month or so ago.  There had been a middle pumpkin as well, but he was lost in a road incident :'-(.

I carried water out to this hard working pumpkin plant through the entire drought.  And for some reason the squash bugs either never found it or maybe somehow she was more resistant than all my other plants have been the last couple of years.  I will save their seeds and see what we get next year.

I just love pumpkins :-).

All Treats This Year...Big Treats

We were trying to work around some (too minor) rain showers so I didn't get the pictures I'd hoped for, but Maisie's costume this year was one of our best.  Odd sort of noteworthy fact, this is the first costume we didn't assemble with hot glue.  We upgraded to duct tape ;-D.

Clarice Cluck, running off with one of Maisie's cookies, is maybe my favorite part of this picture.

Hopefully you can biggify to see her "expiration date".

This would actually be a nice picture if the gate wasn't in the way.  I need to remember this lighting option.

Any other time a sheep wearing a costume tried to walk into a barn full of sheep, there'd have been a stampede to get away.  

Apparently they can either read or have a strong association with the color yellow ;-D.

Happy Halloween!  Nilla Wafers for all :-D.

Happy Birthday, Punkin

32 years ago

I doubt I'll ever be more grateful for anyone or anything ever again.  What a gift.

The 2025 Farm Calendars

It's time to reveal the 2025 farm calendar!

Putting the farm calendar together has become one of the best parts of fall....besides the cooler weather. These calendars started as just a fun way to share some pictures with friends and family, but gratefully grew into a "bake sale" way to help our small flock of sheep support themselves.  

I had a fun group of photos to work with this year and I like the whimsy of several of them.  Who wouldn't like a sheep blowing a raspberry at a big pile of snow? :-)  Once again I added a short story to each month and lots of mini pictures fill in the blank spaces and add extra fun and tell further mini photo stories.  

We also created a limited run of companion note cards again this year.  I used quite a few of them last year and was happy that I sent more snail mail than I have in years.  If you'd like to share a favorite calendar picture with a friend, the companion card is a perfect option.  The accompanying stories are found on the back.

It is still unrealistic for a small farm to "upgrade" to a fancy online shop site so once again we are doing the old time ordering system where you send me an email letting me know what you'd like and where it should be shipped and I'll include an invoice and return envelope in your package.  Add an extra note if you'd like :-).  

Those notes are how I learned that several of you don't turn the calendar pages until it's time so that each month is a surprise.  I love that idea and now do that myself.  Even though I made the calendar, by about March I've forgotten who comes next.  I love being surprised!

That spoiler factor is also why I've put all the boring text up here and hidden the sneak peek calendar and card shots below.  Don't look if you don't want to!  Or you can peek...but goreallyfast ;-).

2024 Equinox Farm Calendar $25.00  

Companion Calendar Note Cards $10.00 

Buy together and save $5.00  $30.00

We charge just actual USPS shipping cost with no mark up for packaging and handling.  If you'd like a quote, send me and email with your zip code and I can give you an exact price.  

If you'd like to see all of the pictures, I did a video tour and talked a little more about the pictures and what these calendars and cards do for our small farm.

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Well, Lancelot is still rolling in the mud.  We lost Jared over the summer so Maisie is now the “friendly” face of the farm.  She might look a bit frail these days, but it’s still a good idea to watch out for the sheep with the tail.  Possum and Archie take turns (mostly) in the wool box bed.  Pinto continues to jump in and out of the arena at will, and a new friend, Pinot, is keeping spell check confused.  When Bea's not out ruling the world, she’s now moved from our feet to the bed.  She has no idea what we would do without her.

We will always miss our old friends.  If you aren’t familiar with their stories, we encourage you to visit the farm blog to meet them.

As always, a special thanks to Saint Tim for doing all the hard work and heavy lifting and a grateful thank you to all of you who are such an important part of our farm family.  Your care and kindness through the years is appreciated more than you could ever imagine. 

 

The Best Day Since Yesterday

There's a darling IG feed with a smol bunny and two golden retrievers and their tag line is "And it was the best day since yesterday."  If you need some kindness and joy, I encourage you to check it out.  

Hug a Sheep Day was the definitely the best day since yesterday and one of the nicest we've ever had.  So nice that it was actually hard to hug sheep because they were out enjoying the beautiful weather like we were and were not all huddled in the barn against the normal cold and rain eating cookies until they nearly popped.

I only took one picture all day...and it was of Betsy (insert face palm).  Even at 16, Betsy still loves a good party and I was so happy to see her out there...but it doesn't make a good feature photo for a sheep party...

The two flock walks were nice, however, and I've included them here.

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While every day is a great day to hug a sheep, it was really nice to have a really nice one for a change :-).

How did you celebrate?

A Good Day

 I love it when the oldies are having a good day.  What a fabulous fall we've had.

That wrinkly nose :-)