After a snow storm everyone does their part! (My mother always told me not to eat snow. But I did it anyway. Same goes for sheep. They love it, even when they have hay and fresh water.)
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Archives for winter
Another week, another storm . . .
Winter's found her groove. Last night she dumped another eight inches of snow on us, but it was a fast moving storm and this stuff is light and fluffy. Not so bad. And it was an awesomely beautiful morning – quintessential New England winter. Although I am feeling a bit under the weather this week, I couldn't resist playing in the snow with my sheep & camera during chores. Please come back early tomorrow morning for a special announcement! Happy Thursday to all.
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Sol Llama Update
Isn't he a beauty? Sol, our rescue llama, loves his sheep but people can't get within 15 feet of him – that's his comfort zone. I wonder if he'll always think of us as scary. We've caught him a few times, just for the exercise of catching him and letting him know we won't hurt him. It's less stressful if we do it in the barn by crowding him in a pen with the sheep. If there's no where to run, he knows it and somehow that's less frightening. Like the sheep, it's the chasing part that's scary. So we
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On Snow & Ice & Sheep
Another Snow Day . . . Driving in snow doesn't scare me. Eating outdoors in a snow storm doesn't bother sheep. Mike and I did morning chores today during the "snow" portion of today's storm. Even though the photo looks grey and dismal, it was lovely, really. Just four inches of flour-y powder. Wind, not so bad. The "ice" portion of today's storm is hitting now. Crystal pellets are pinging off the windows in my study as I write. I'm sure the sheep have retreated to the barn where we stashed extra servings of hay. It saves us another trip
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Breaking Trail
This was the scene yesterday morning after our first bonafide, rip-roarin' storm of the winter. The snow started Tuesday night and fell thick and heavy straight through the day on Wednesday. After driving mostly sideways down Patten Hill to get to the farm for chores Wednesday morning, I got stuck on an unplowed road and had to wait for a town plow truck to bail me out. The sheep stayed in by choice, happy for snow day. And after I finished chores, and Mike and Fred dealt with plowing and shoveling, we all stayed put for the day. Storms are
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Snow Llama
Woke up to a frosted farm today. Very pretty for morning chores. Sol, our new llama, and the lambs dined al fresco on clean snow. Sol studies everything. Nothing escapes his attention: the Belties (Belted Galloway cattle) next door, tractors, mail truck, UPS deliveries. Today he'll get to watch Mike shovel snow. He just takes it all in. The straw delivery truck earlier this week proved spooky. Sol stood in the paddock some distance from the barn and watched with his ears cocked forward while the bales were tossed off the truck. The lambs clustered around his legs. He is
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Simple Gifts: Mellow Winter Morning
Mornings like today's are sublime. Sunshine, temps in mid 30's, yard full of sheep, no wind. Couldn't ask for a better way to start the day. Or to end the year. Come back tomorrow for a look back at 2010 in pictures. Sheep Shares 2010 members, stay tuned. I've been busy in the dye studio and am excited to share color choices for the winter shares tomorrow!
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Simple Gifts – day one
At this time of year, the season of giving, it's so easy to get swept up in the holiday shuffle and bustle. The simple gifts each day brings can easily be overlooked or taken for granted. For just a moment each day this week I'm really making it a point to pause, reflect and appreciate. It feels especially important to me, in a year that has been spectacularly difficult although I'm working on seeing that too as it's own gift. Simple Gifts, day one: Teamwork Mike, Holly and I spent this morning rounding up the remaining sheep at the top
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Winter Morning
A fresh dusting of snow overnight speaks the undeniable truth: winter is here to stay. A flock of sharp appetites greeted me at the gate this morning. I am grateful for not having to shovel snow today – and for heated water buckets. Snow shovels are on stand-by. Now I need to get serious and put the plow on my truck! Come back tomorrow for an important announcement about Sheep Shares 2011. Until then, stay warm!
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White Out
Holly took the hoggets for a stroll in the snow today – moving them to the big barn for their very big date with the shearer on Friday. Since fleeces need to be absolutely dry for shearing, we moved them as early as possible this morning to get them tucked into the most protected building before the storm really got cranking. Which it is right now. I can barely make out the barn from my window. It's suppose to storm all night and we could get as much as a foot here in the hills before it's over.
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