...not too shabby.
Saturday, December 31, 2022
Catch Up
Remember those nice slide show recaps of each month I used to post...and how I hadn't posted one in, (checks notes) five months? Yeah... I spent the last few days of 2022 weeding out gigs of photos and going back and creating each missing month. They are important to me. It was worth it, but I sure hope I don't let things get that far behind ever again :-o.
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
What Is Going On In That Head
Well, I can tell you what's going on in this sheep's head. She's tired of being cooped up in the barn with everyone and has found a nice little pile of hay out in the driveway and is taking a little time out. Completely understandable and appropriate behavior.
So why is there a nice little pile of hay in the driveway?
"Why am I out here and what does inappropriate mean?"
Tim drove his truck up to the front of the barn the other day. A big glob of frozen road slush fell off his wheel well. The little darlin' (who was getting special barn privileges) went over and started eating it. (!)
Now before anyone thinks she was just looking for salt and is obviously deficient (well, she's obviously deficient of something), she has 24/7 access to not only a loose salt mix, but also a loose mineral mix, all free choice. The extra chemicals the road crew mixes in...not included.
I had to basically beat her carry her back into the barn to get her off it.
The first thing I did was stomp it down and dump a bucket of water on it to try to wash it away. Back she came.
I then raked up a big pile of dirty hay chaff from the chicken playground, making sure there was plenty of chicken poop mixed in, and covered it up. Like a psycho sheep on a mission, she scraped the chicken poop off and went back to eating.
I finally had to cover it all up with a couple of barn towels and as soon as she was done eating her proper dinner, I revoked her special barn privileges. And Short Round got to take a little nap in peace, by herself, on a nice little pile of hay in the driveway.
The End
Saturday, December 24, 2022
Behind The Scenes
I almost forgot to share this. For the last couple of years I've been photographing the finished card instead of scanning it. It's hard to get the card to print the same color and saturation as the actual painting and this seems to be getting us closer, quicker.
This year, as I got ready to shoot it, Jared came over and gave the painting a thorough inspection. That was probably due to the fact he was hoping it was a yellow Vanilla Wafer box, but I'd love it if he knew those were his friends and himself in the picture.
If you notice, this is not what ended up being the finished card. With the different perspective I noticed that the painting was a bit heavy on the left with too much open on the right. And Betsy was missing. Back to the [painting] board ;-).
I normally do a Christmas Eve cookie party video, but dealing with the extremely cold weather has taken a toll so I'm not making any set plans. I think the sun is supposed to be out tomorrow, so I think it will be more fun to "open presents" Christmas morning instead.
This will be live on IG and I may try to do a live on FB as well if I can get that figured out. I'm not going to make any promises on a time because animal care comes first and we are still going to be very cold tonight. Hopefully all will be well and maybe we'll shoot for somewhere around 9:00?
Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 16, 2022
Merry Christmas
I really enjoy listening to Christmas stories, well, any good stories and some of my favorite people are the ones who tell great stories. I like to think that our animals tell each other stories as well. I wish I could sit down here between Bea and Blossom and listen to Grandpa Rocky. Everyone has a story.
Merry Christmas!
Jessica is our puzzle post winner. Please email me (thecrazysheepladyATgmailDOTcom) with your mailing address :-).
Thursday, December 15, 2022
A Sneak Peek And A Giveaway
I'll post the actual card and the back diagram tomorrow (Friday) at noon ET. In the meantime, if you'd like to work the puzzle (click the picture) for a sneak peek, let's have some fun! How many characters can you identify?
Leave a comment with A. the total number of animals and B. how many you can recognize and I'll have 20 do a random drawing giveaway for a fun prize on Friday afternoon :-D
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Greetings!
Wow, December 13th. Sigh... Okay, I'm not going to dwell on the disappointment of missing so many days on the blog.
The Christmas card is finished and everything is being printed today and will start going out tomorrow. I'll do the big reveal once they are in the mail. I'll probably do it as a puzzle, just for fun and then later in the day post the whole picture and story.
I always listen to audio books while I work and for the last few years I've tried to find good Christmas-y stories. I've shared some of my favorites before. This year I have found a new strategy for finding fun stories.
If you have an Audible membership, put "Christmas" in as a search and then click "included in your membership" and you'll find an amazingly long list of free Christmas/Winter stories! There are classics and mysteries and children's stories and lots of sappy Hallmark style cozy romances and plenty of just good, fun stories.
Currently I'm listening to Lady Osbaldestone's Christmas Goose and it's a charming early 1800s story about a grandmother and her three grandchildren as they try to solve a mystery and is very reminiscent of Downton Abbey.
Enjoy!
Monday, November 28, 2022
Happy Birthday, Archie!
We don't exactly know when Archie's birthday really is, but since he had so much fun at Maisie's party and Auntie Reg had found a Temptations Birthday Party Pack for him, we decided Saturday was as good a day as any :-).
"Hurry up with the prizes!"
"These are nice, but I sure wish I'd gotten a cake like Maisie."
Reg flips box over ;-).
"This is the best cake ever! It's even better than the Cheerios cake!"
Happy Birthday, Archie :-).
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Happy Birthday...Um...Archie?
Archie, not knowing how birthdays work, can't believe he's already 10 years old. Or maybe it's how many lives he's used up so far! He showed up out of nowhere, ate Cheerios until Maisie ran him off and then came back after the sheep were finished to see if there were any left.
I recorded the event "live" on Instagram and it was...well, you'll just have to watch it. It was another classic Maisie birthday party :-D.
Reg was trying to re-seat the big nail that holds the box to the table before Maisie did something...Maisie-ish.
Everyone decided the green(ish) grass was the best party food ever.
Happy Birthday, Maisie! You are loved more than you'll ever know.
How about a birthday girl puzzle? Enjoy :-)
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
The 2023 Calendar
Ready or not, it's almost the new year...again :-o.
Sadly, we are only offering the farm calendar this fall, not a Lamb Camp calendar. I say sadly not only because I liked the small size and sweet pictures, but also because I didn't get anywhere near enough lamb snorgling this past spring :'-(.
It was a pretty good year otherwise and only a few tears shed as I picked out pictures. Archie and Bea provided several good choices and some funny stories to share. Of course Possum makes several appearances as do quite a few sheep and that dirt ball, Lancelot ;-).
Frankie missed getting a big picture this year because most of the time I spent with him would have given me blurry action shots :-). Maisie's back, larger than life, there's the obligatory chicken picture and some fun surprises. I also included a different butterfly this year and some interesting bee information.
I can't fathom how I am once again writing up a 'welcome to the new year' blurb for the back of our farm calendar. Didn't I just do last year's only a month or so ago?!?Many things have stayed the same, thankfully. Lancelot is still rolling in the mud, Maisie is still watching over her flock by night...and day, Jared is still grazing the yard, Possum's still sleeping in all her beds, except whichever one Archie has claimed at any given hour of the day or night, and the chickens are still...well, chickens. It's hard for Bea to keep our feet warm when she's sleeping belly up on the couch, but at least when she's asleep she's still. We still miss all of our old friends.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 each year, as they feel shorter and shorter, is appreciated more than you could ever imagine. Here's to another new year!
The calendars are $20 this year and as always, shipping is, well...shipping :-/. For the local folks, if you are interested, we can offer pick up options at Tim's print shop in Corporate Center, just off New Circle Road and you are always welcome to come out to the farm to pick one up. Fighting New Circle Road isn't much fun, but coming out to the farm and saying hi to the sheep is always fun. Please email to set up a time to make sure we're around.
For the not local folks...I'm guessing the shipping is going to be around $10.65 for most of the country and probably $15 or so for parts distant. I'm still trying to source a more ecologically friendly mailer, so I'm probably not going to start shipping calendars until next week. Please let me know if you need one quicker than that!
If you are interested in purchasing a calendar (or anything else from the farm shop :-), just send me an email (thecrazysheepladyATgmailDOTcom) letting me know what you'd like and please provide your mailing address. I will include an invoice and return envelope in your (hopefully greener) mailer or box and you can stick a check back in the mail (preferred method) or we can usually figure out how to do an online payment method if we need to.
I know it surely goes without saying, but any purchases made from our on farm shop or website directly support the Punkin's Patch sheep (and dogs, cats, horses and even those stupid crazy Adventure Chickens), but also indirectly support the local farmers who grow our feed and hay, veterinarians who take such good care, our sheep shearers, the mill that processes our wool...and, of course, Nabisco and Keebler ;-). We all truly appreciate your support.
Sunday, November 13, 2022
Troublemaker, Guardian, Meteorologist, Friend
Spud is having trouble getting around and I thought if he moved to Easy Breezy he'd be able to just walk out the side door, straight onto the grass rather than all the way down the aisle and across the driveway. He could also have access to hay all day and night with no competition.
He's been used to eating breakfast and dinner with Short Round and that's already her favorite place to sleep. She likes to graze the yard as well and I knew if I set them up in there she would love having all day access to an open gate to come and go as she pleased.
The other member of their breakfast club is Maisie, but I didn't even consider moving her to the other end of the barn. She'd be lost if she couldn't sit in her normal spot and watch the back of the barn.
The first day and night went okay. Short Round was happy with the arrangement and Spud seemed okay as well. The second day the weather changed and rain started blowing into the EB end of the barn so I closed the roll down door. This makes for a cozy spot out of the wind.
At evening feeding time Maisie was not in her normal watchdog spot in the aisleway. She'd moved into the middle stall. I wondered if she knew the weather was really going to turn ugly and we needed to add meteorologist to her resume.
By the night check, winter had definitely arrived. As I walked into the barn, Spud hollered at me. He doesn't say much unless he needs something so I always go find him. Before I could answer back, Maisie hollered. Maisie always has something to say these days, usually involving wanting more food ;-). Spud yelled, Maisie yelled, Spud yelled, Maisie yelled...
Spud wasn't in any sort of physical trouble when I got to him, but it was windy and he wasn't used to being in that part of the barn and the north wind was whipping at the door and I think he was scared. I turned on a night light for him and Short Round, gave them some extra hay and everything settled down.
The walk through door on the side of EB isn't as wind proof as I'd like. I'd blocked it with a feeder that night and Tim was going to rebuild it in the morning. The wind, rain, freezing rain and snow yesterday made working outside a miserable chore and since I knew Spud would be happier back in his normal spot, at least until this nasty weather moved on, I let him move back in and put the door rebuild off for a nicer weekend.
At the night check last night this is where I found Spud and Maisie.
When the weather is bad, Spud prefers to move into the middle stall. I think Maisie moving in there the night before had less to do with the weather and more to do with wanting to be nearer to her friend, maybe more to comfort him than herself.
The most interesting sheep in the world apparently does have a sweet side.
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