Lucky me

The last time thecrazysheeplady came to visit, we were out in the field taking pictures and visiting with the lambs and I challenged her to just look down and find a four-leaf clover. It is ridiculous how many she finds on her own farm and I was sure there weren't any here. I look all the time and never seem to find any. Sure enough, she looked down and found several! I decided right then that she has some kind of mystical gift. One day last week, I walked out into the field to give Olive her mid-day bottle and after she guzzled it, I sat down in the grass to enjoy listening to the bells the ewes wear and watch the lambs playing. Sitting there, I looked down and, lo and behold, there was not one or two, but four four-leaf clovers and a couple with five leaves! (If five leaves are unlucky, please just don't tell me!) I took pictures because I thought no one would believe me. I could hardly believe it myself. I don't know if I landed in a patch of lucky clover or if it was just that I had slowed down enough to actually see what was right in front of me.

One of the best parts of raising sheep is observing them. Nowadays, the lambs are getting more and more adventuresome and often wander away from their moms to play with the other lambs. When it's nap time or in the evening, when everyone is bedded down for the night, they gather in their little family groups and settle down close to mom and siblings. I caught this sweet picture of the CVM ewe, Fiona, with her little ewe lamb at rest. This ewe lamb has been dubbed Clarabell, because of her funny little clown face and her endearing mannerisms. She is very curious and always comes up to watch Olive taking her bottle. She's most often the lamb who buddies up with Olive, too, which makes me feel better knowing that Olive has a friend. And then, of course, there's always one or two who won't settle down at nap time and spend their time and energy trying to start trouble.

What does it mean?

Yes, it truly is winter here in Kentucky. Last night the temperature was down in the 20's and this morning we woke up to a dusting of snow. Then, as I was walking into the barn for morning chores, I spied this!

What does it mean when the forsythia bushes are blooming on December 5th?

Oh Joy!

Autumn Joy, that is. I love it and look forward to this time every year when it starts to take on that wonderful rusty-red color that signals fall is coming soon. Fall is my very favorite season and, with the exception of my husband's ragweed allergy, I love everything about it. The light, the cooler temperatures, the plants that are blooming, the shorter days and longer nights, the food and the change of clothing are just some of the things I look forward to all summer. In some ways, I am like the animals I raise. They seem rejuvinated now. The lambs and yearlings are not spending quite so much time snoozing in the shade during the day and, when I go out to feed them in the evenings, they act almost giddy------jumping and running, doing that boing-boing thing they do when they are having fun.

Earlier today, I was trying to catch up on reading some of my favorite blogs, I read a post on Anne Hanson's Knitspot, where she used the phase her "old bathrobe sweater". That phrase refers perfectly to one of the sweaters I have on the needles at the moment. (And it's one I intend to finish knitting this week! There, I said it and hope that will keep me motivated, or shamed, into actually doing it.) I found the pattern in a 2005 Debbie Bliss book called "Home-27 Handknits for Living". Most of the patterns are what I would call homegoods: afghans, pillows, washcloths and such, but there are a few cozy sweaters, mittens, scarves and socks that are the kinds of things I love to wear. Truthfully, I could happily knit everything in the book and there aren't many books out there I can say that about (though on Amazon it has gotten decidedly mixed reviews). I'm using Malabrigo Worsted yarn in the #173 Stonechat colorway and it is a joy to knit with. It's next to the skin soft and the color is perfect for this time of year. It even reminds me of my Autumn Joy sedums. (I'm knitting both sleeves at the same time, so I really don't have much more to do.)

I've been feeling like a bit of a dead-head lately (and not the Grateful kind, either). I've had too many things going on that have taken me away from the farm, too many days in a row. I'm not organized enough to be gone most of the day and come home to accomplish much of anything else. Are you able to do that? In talking with my women friends who are farmers like me, I have found a commonality in that we all really like staying on the farm all day and find it hard to leave. We seem to crave more "alone" time than most women and the more we stay at home, the more we want to stay at home on the farm. Maybe it's just that I never feel as though I have enough time to do what I need to do and still have time to do what I want to do. The idea of ever being bored at home is totally beyond my comprehension.

Snack time

This is what happens when there are sheep pastures just on the other side of the fence from the landscaping in your yard. I love, love, love hydrangeas (I guess sheep do too) and have many varieties that are finally starting to look as though they have been here for a while. My step-daughter's wedding was here at the farm 4 1/2 years ago and that "inspired" us to really get busy and finish the landscaping and spiff things up a bit. My husband joked at the time that if we could have just one more wedding (meaning his son's), then we might finally get caught up on all the projects that needed finishing around here. (Nothing like a little pressure to speed up the process!) This hydrangea bush is planted outside the garden fence and next to our little pet cemetery. Look closely and you will see that this girl has stuck her head through a small, square opening in the fence to snack on a morsel or two of hydrangea leaves. (This is often how the sheep manage to pull out their ear tags---by snagging it on the fence when they retreat.) I have to say, her expression caused me to laugh out loud, when I should have been scolding.

I'm not the type to have (and maintain) any sort of formal landscape. When we had a plan drawn out for landscaping around the farmhouse, I specifically requested that it look like nothing more than an old fashioned country yard, with hydrangeas, viburnum, hollys and lilacs. The part I didn't envision was two Great Pyrenees lounging behind the hydrangeas and amongst the hostas and daylilies. What we seem to have created is an ever evolving series of snacking and napping spots!

Happy summer Monday! I hope your week includes some time for snacking and napping!

Bee Happy

Sorry, couldn't resist saying something so corny. It's all about the bees around here right now. The girls are guzzling down the sugar water and working, working, working all the time. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the orange-ish looking pollen on their back legs when they come in from foraging(click to biggify). It looks as though they will need some expansion room and will be ready for the second hive box to go on in just a day or two. I have spent time just sitting and watching them fly in and out every morning. They have been too busy to pay much attention to me, though I did get buzzed a bit yesterday. I actually got a bigger reaction from the lambs when they saw me walk into the field in my bee outfit! (The jumpsuit is gigantic and makes me feel as though I am moving under water, but everyone said to buy it extra big because it shrinks a lot when you wash it.Add the helmet and the veil and it's a pretty scary look.) The lambs took one look at me and ran for their lives!

Last week I made the trip to Frankfort to one of my favorite places at this time of year. Wilson Nurseries (sadly, no website) is brimming over with beautiful plants and I wanted to bring home a load of them. I restrained myself and only got vegetable plants, geraniums and assorted annuals for the pots that go on the terrace. I have tried to become more realistic about the number of pots and plantings I will do a good job of caring for once the weather gets really hot and that has caused me to scale back considerably. I'm willing to admit that when it gets really hot, I'd much rather be sitting inside knitting---of which there has been very little of lately.

I am working on the "Kate Cardigan" designed by Elizabeth Morrison. It was in issue #5 of Knitcircus, the wonderful little knitting magazine that Susan Anderson mentioned on her blog a few months back. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to subscribe to it immediately. Several of us from the Wednesday Knitting group did and we all love the size and format of it. I ordered the back issues also and have found several patterns in each issue that I would like to knit. Anyway, I'm slowly making progress on the "Kate". I have finished the back, which was boring stockinette, but made for great mindless knitting and am now working on the fronts. I am knitting both fronts at the same time because then I don't have to remember the shaping (lazy, I guess). I'm anxious to get to the sleeves because they are picked up from the armhole edge and knit down, using short rows to shape the sleeve cap. I don't believe I have ever knit sleeves that way and it seems to me, if it works well, it will make fitting sleeves into the armhole opening much easier. (The yarn is Queensland Kathmandu DK in color #434)

Time to get outside and work, work, work (you know, making hay while the sun shines and all that.....).

Flora and fauna

Seen on the way to the barn this morning. (I had never seen a poppy emerging like this. It sort of looks as if it is being eaten by something!)


This Luna Moth was waiting for me on the barn door.


Then this on the way back to the house, not long afterwards. Exact same poppy.

From a tiny seed

A few years back (maybe 4 or 5), my oldest grandson, Coleman (he's now 13), brought a seedling to the farm and asked if we could plant it. Turns out, the seedling had grown from an apple seed, from an apple that came from the grocery store. Honestly, I didn't think it had much chance of surviving, but I planted it out by my garden shed, where I could keep an eye on it and water it, if need be. Last week I was adding some bedding from the chicken house to the compost pile and happened to glance at Coleman's tree. It is now about 9-10 feet tall and, for the first time, it has blooms on it! I'm so excited about this little tree producing fruit. It never would have occurred to me to start an apple tree from a grocery store apple seed. Coleman can't remember what kind of apple the seed came from, so it will be fun to see what the little tree produces.

Poppies appear

This morning on the way to the barn, I passed by the flower beds in front of the garden fence and never saw this. How is that even possible? On my way back to the house (after feeding all those lamb's bottles, sheep, baby chicks, adult chickens, four Great Pyrenees, and Buster, the cat) this sight stopped me dead in my tracks! I must admit that I really prefer the salmon or peach colored poppies and have planted many of those since we moved to the farm, but these screaming orange ones were here first and they definitely dominate the scene. They are self-seeding, so no matter how many times I try to rearrange them into other beds, they keep popping up where they want to be! I'm ready to surrender because they do have their charms. I just can't help being cheered up when I see those bright, shining faces.