Birthdays and other things - January 2019

 January is my birthday month - Mother Nature celebrated by having the snowdrops bloom early!

My spinner guild met on the day of my birthday, so I brought cake.  My favorite? Chocolate cake, raspberry filling and whipped cream icing.  Literally, I could eat the whole thing! 











The Shepherd & I went to The Outback Steakhouse in Burlington for my birthday dinner - which included a trip around the back roads to see swans and snow geese.

So pretty and SO NOISY!  

And eagles - we were lucky and got down there in the afternoon feeding time.  Lots of birds in the trees!













 And flowers for my desk at work.  Never too old to celebrate a birthday. 

Some thoughts - January 2019

 

Happiness cannot be traveled to,

owned, earned, worn or consumed

Happiness is the spiritual experience

of living every minute

with love, grace and gratitude.

Denis Waitley

 

December 2018 - That Holiday feeling

 One of my very favorite Christmas presents from my older sister is the Christmas wreath that she makes and sends to me each year.  She uses lots of different kinds of greens so it is very festive looking.

Hellebores, or Christmas Rose.

We are getting quite a collection - we have this one, a green one, a reddish one and a blackish one.  They provide a bright spot of color all winter in the garden.

And you can't forget to get yourself something for Christmas.  These pretty poinsettia earrings were made by a lady named Iryna Chajka who I follow on Instagram.  She has an Etsy shop called EtenIren.etsy.com and her stuff is lovely.  She does a lot of succulents - earrings, jewel boxes, etc.  Prices are reasonable, and even though she's some place in Europe, the earrings came really fast! 

Spinning projects November 2018

 One of my treasures from Black Sheep Gatherings past.  This is called Paper Roses. 

That little bit of Glitter really makes it sparkle

 

One of the first projects on my new e-spinner.  I'm also working on some roving from our sheep for another sweater for The Shepherd. 

I think this would make a pretty capelet, don't you? 

Beautiful Mt. Baker on a fall day

 

Sometimes I can't believe we live in such a beautiful place!  I love seeing Mt. Baker when out and about.  I often wonder what the first settlers thought when they came "around the corner" and there was our beautiful mountain, just shining and welcoming.  

The local indigenous people say that once you live in the shadow of this mountain, you will always come back, no matter how far you roam.   

Some of the bounty of Summer 2018

 

The Shepherd's garden went every which way last summer, including this wayward acorn squash that set itself up in the black pine by the driveway!  

 

A beautiful little acorn Squash from last summer that we enjoyed for The Shepherd's birthday dinner. Spoiler alert - he saved seeds and they had crossed with the butternuts so he got all kinds of different things this year.  

Some Sheep photos from November 2018

We were (rightfullly) concerned that the sheep put on so much wool last fall.

Did it mean we were going to have a hard winter?

It wasn't too bad until after the first of the year.  But here they are, turning grass into wool.  That's their superpower! 

November 2018

Hello - Just catching up the blog "for the past year"  I had hoped to post from my phone, but for some reason, the link is broken and I just haven't had time to look into it. 

So here is Gracie - giving you her best Caturday smile. 

Just another fall day in paradise

It was beautiful for a walk about on Saturday and I couldn't help myself from taking a picture of our lovely yard.  The Shepherd really works hard on keeping it that way too. 

The end of the season.

All that's left in the garden are the butternut squashes.  They are a mini variety, just the right size for dinner for two. 

Almost Alaska sized!

The Shepherd doesn't do anything by halves and his cabbages this year are as big as your head!  He's got mondo acorn squash coming on too.  Everyone who wanted some at church this morning was rewarded, with one gal getting this one to take home "to make sauerkraut" she said excitedly. 

Gosh they've grown!

They are only 4 months old, but they know who brings out their hay.  Our little girls love their Shepherd.

What's in bloom?

I have had beautiful flowers from The Shepherd's garden on my desk for the last month and a half.  It's so much fun and so cheery.  Always a nice surprise to see what he picks and leaves in my car.

Love summer!

It's green bean time again. It's also what's for dinner for the next month or so.  Sure glad they are tasty. 

Let the wailing begin

 One of my least favorite times (well, really my VERY LEAST favorite time) on the farm is weaning day. 

Everyone is gathered up, and moms go into one pasture and babies go into another.

 Our friend Nancy G. came over to help.  We coincided the weaning with ear tags for all the babies. 

You see, in order to take an animal off our premises, it MUST have an ear tag.  The Shepherd got a rather nasty letter from the feds for taking a couple of ram lambs to the auction without them last year. 

The feds want to know where our sheep are at all times.

Hmm - too bad they don't feel that way about immigrant babies.  Sorry, I digress...

   So, we have 22 sheep, 12 babies, 6 mamas, 3 yearling ewes and one auntie who is a non-breeder.

The have all been screaming ever since Friday night - the lambs wanting to know where there mommies were - the mommies, whose udders were getting tight, wanting to know where their babies were - and the teen-aged girls and Auntie Donna wanting to know what they were missing out on...

 Hey, you, where'd you put the lambs? 

Actually, the moms and yearling ewes have quieted down significantly, but the baaabies - Not so much -

I'll be very glad for Monday this week. 

Moooommmmm, mooommmmm, where are you?