The Birthday Girl

Happy Twelfth  Birthday, Maisie!

"Thanks!"

"This birthday cake sure is good!"

I'm thinking Maisie might ought to sleep with one eye open tonight!

"What's that mean?"

Auntie Reg had to be the bad guy and keep Short Round and Tabitha from crashing Maisie's party too early.  The look on Short Round's face in the third picture cracks me up.

The rest of the flock was way out in the field and the "cake" was disappearing quickly, so it became a party just for Maisie and her Easy Breezy friends...and the chickens...and Bea.

"Stop taking pictures and do something!"

In some ways it seems like forever ago that she was such a tiny baby...and in some ways it all feels like a dream and she was just always here.  

Best. Twelve Years. Ever.

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.