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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A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)

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.