Good girl, Holly!

Can you see that creature sitting up there in the snow? (click to enlarge) Yesterday as I was trudging to the barn for evening feeding, I heard Holly barking, barking, barking. She was barking an alarm bark, not just a warning bark and bouncing up and down with each bark. It took me a while to see this guy sitting out there watching the sheep. The whole scene was at once alarming and reassuring. Alarming because coyotes are usually out and about after dark and rarely do they come within sight of the house and barn. It was reassuring because Holly was doing exactly what she should. She hadn't abandon her sheep to chase the coyote. She had rounded up the ewe lambs and put them in the corner of the field nearest the big barn. Once she had them in the safest available spot, she placed herself between the lambs and the coyote and continued barking and moving slowing toward it. The coyote loped off toward the back of the farm. Holly has been on high alert since this happened, constantly patrolling and giving her warning bark.

There seems to be a larger than usual coyote population right now. A few nights ago, as I was walking from the barn to the house, I heard a big pack howling and yipping from the back of the farm, only to be answered by another large pack down in the creek below our house. Talk about raising the hair on the back of your neck....that'll do it! We don't hunt or trap them, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility, if one were to attack Holly or kill one of the sheep. We try to coexist. We won't bother them, if they don't bother us or the livestock.

When Holly first arrived here, we figured she had been born around Christmas time. She has matured into one of the best livestock guardian dogs I have ever owned. I'm thinking she may need some kind of combination birthday present/reward in the near future. Good girl, Holly!

Another winner

(the Old Girl is taking her mid-morning nap in her favorite spot--don't know where her buddy is)

It was a balmy 15 degrees at feeding time this morning. Amazing how warm that can feel when the sun is out and the wind is not blowing! Mind you, I'm not complaining about the cold. I think I used all my complaining rights during all the hot, dry days we experienced this past summer. According to the weather people, we are in for a few days of warm-ish (30's-40's) weather before the next front rolls through this weekend to give us a repeat of last weekend. Lots of rain, turning to snow and then low, low temperatures. Right now I'm especially glad to be raising livestock with warm, woolly coats to keep them comfortable.

So, enough with the chit-chat. I know what you all are really here for! I've been blown away by the number of comments these past few days. It's obvious there's a love fest going on out there for Kristin Nicholas and I'm sure she is grateful for all your sweet comments. As knitters who appreciate independent designers working from their homes, we need to support and encourage their efforts by buying their books and patterns (and in Kristin's case cards, bags and mugs), preferably direct from them personally.

The winner of "Kristin Knits" and a selection of Julia yarn selected by random.org this morning is number 9-Jody, who wrote "Luv your cute little stove...just what I need for my cold and drafty craft room!" Jody, I can't send you my little stove, but I'll send along Kristin's book and some beautiful, soft, warm yarn if that will help! Please email me at diannemac1010@gmail.com within 24 hours with your address and I'll get it mailed right away.

(The gratuitous picture above is the outside of my new studio building. I know I've been promising to do a post with pictures and I'm going to do that really soon. I'll confess that at the moment the inside looks as though I've had a break-in and the place got ransacked! That's the problem with actually working in it...........I can't keep it tidy!)

Thanks to all who stopped by to leave a comment. I'll be doing at least one more giveaway before Christmas, so check back soon.

New day, new week, new giveaway

Pippi loves the snow!!

It's been way too busy around here.....already. I want things to slow down so I can savor the season instead of rushing, rushing through it, trying desperately to get everything done.

As I write this, it's snowing outside, the animals have had their morning rations and I hope to spend most of today cozy in the studio. We got the little Vermont Castings stove installed not long ago and it's just as I hoped it would be. It warms the studio quickly, gives me just a little glimpse of the flames behind the glass panel and, now that Mike has cut some firewood small enough to fit, I can build a fire in no time at all. Plus, it's just cute!

So, on to the new giveaway. Kristin Nicholas is someone I would love to know personally and attending one of her on-farm workshops would be a dream come true! She is inspiring in so many ways. I love her use of color and seeing her designs makes me want to be more brave in the color choices I make in my knitting. So, for this giveaway I'm offering a copy of Kristin's book, "Kristin Knits", and eight skeins of Julia yarn. The reason I have two copies is because I pre-ordered the book, but when I discovered Kristin was selling autographed copies herself, I decided I wanted to support someone I admire by buying from her directly. The yarn is a scrumptious blend of alpaca, mohair and wool and has 93 yards in each ball. The colors are fabulous and the book will give you plenty of ideas for using it.

Leave a comment between now and Wednesday midnight eastern standard time and I'll random number generate on Thursday morning. Good luck!

Not quite the peaceable kingdom......

Finally, after a lot of head butting, shoulder shoving and general bully-boy acting, we have achieved a truce. When I took the rams away from the ewes in their breeding groups, I dreaded putting them back together. Most of the year, they get along well enough. I would say they even become pals. But, as soon as the ewes start cycling, the boys get restless and then every day it's "I'm more rammy than you are"....pretty much nonstop until I separate them and put them in with their ewes. Henry is a new addition to our flock this year and Ollie is not impressed or pleased (but, I think the girls were!). As usual, I penned them together in a very, very small space in hopes that they would not hurt each other in the time it took for testosterone levels to come down. I penned them together so they could barely turn around and still they were pushing and shoving after a week. I gave them a little more space and after another few days, turned them outside together. I think Henry got the worst of it, but they finally have settled down. Henry is an old guy and he made a valiant effort at being the dominant one, but Ollie is not quite two and that gave him the physical advantage.

(Yes, I know...the coat is done for....I took it off and found it's beyond repair. That's his third and LAST coat for this year!)

(Seriously, what's not to love about that face?)

Then, there is poor Buddy (he's a wether), who got thrown into the pen to serve as a peace-maker. He's bigger than either of the rams and could intimidate them, if he only knew it. He's such a big baby and sweet boy. He'd rather be baby-sitting those silly ewe lambs than dealing with the rough old boys. (And, by the way, don't let anyone tell you that bottle raised ram lambs won't ever amount to anything. Sometimes they do, because Buddy was a nice guy, even before we took away his ramhood!)