Yup, it's comin' on Christmas......

"It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace" *

Merry Christmas to all from everyone here on the farm!

*From the song "River" by Joni Mitchell

We gather together in joyful thanksgiving...

Howdy effurry body and effurry kitty!

Well, Mummy has been busier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs - ha ha ha ha

No, honestly, she has been -

She and the Shepherd went to see a singer lady called Joan Baez a couple of weeks ago.  Some of the peeps that she works with had never heard of Ms. Joanie before - I heard Mummy say they were cretins, what ever that means...

Anyhow, I heard her telling the Shepherd that this was one of the best concerts she had been to in a while.  Joan Baez is 71 years old (in People years!) and still touring over 50 dates a year.  She plays amazing guitar and still sings like an angel.  If you get a chance to see her in concert, Mummy says you should definitely go!

Well, we hate to complain, but it's been darn cold here - only in the 20's and I know we shouldn't complain, because we didn't get any snow and those poor people in Buffalo got 6 feet of the darn stuff.  But HEY, 20 degrees is just darn cold!  (ha ha, Mummy here - I walked into the bathroom and George was stretched out completely over the furnace vent!)  And yesterday it was so windy that when Mummy stopped at the gas station to put fuel in her car, the wind was blowing soooooo hard that she actually had to hold on to the car because she was afraid she was going to get blown over! But, it is clear and sunny (or in this case, would you say, clear and moony?) 

We hope you had a good Thanksgiving - Mummy and The Shepherd went over to their friend Nancy's house - Mummy made pies - pumpkin and apple and a pumpkin ice cream torte that she made up the recipe for!  It was semi-homemade pumpkin ice cream over pumpkin cake & everyone said it was very good (and she apologizes for not being able to get the picture right side up.  Her friend took the picture with her cell phone and even though Mummy edited the picture & saved it right side up, it still posted sideways.  Computers - bah)  She said that she will post the recipe, but she has to write it down first! 

Mummy also cooked a turkey here yesterday (Saturday) so she and The Shepherd would have "left overs" - and a turkey body to make soup with.  She gave me and Bella some little pieces of turkey meat tonight - it was very tasty.

Who ME?  I don't know nuthin about no glasses of water...

Speaking of Bella, she has been very naughty lately. The Shepherd runs a glass of water and leaves it on the counter before he goes to bed so he'll have something to drink if he gets up in the night.  Well, Bella thinks she should be able to drink out of that glass, and of course can't get her fat head in the glass and proceeds to knock it over, and gets water all over the place!  Mummy can't convince The Shepherd if he'd just leave a little bowl of water in the sink Bella wouldn't bother his glass, oh well...

Mummy promises that she'll be better at getting the news to you on a more consistent basis.  She has lots to tell you about the sheepies and other stuff. 

Have a great week!  XOX  Your roving reporter, George

Caturday Confessions

Hello Effurybody and Effurykitty! 

It's Caturday, and Mummy has a confession to make, don't you Mummy?

"Oh, I don't think so Gracie, what are you talking about?"

You know, about you bein' an addik.......  Tell the people what you are addikted to.....   Like something that is keeping you from telling our stories, because you are busy doing your addiktion thing on the computer...

"Oh, you mean shopping on Amazon.com?  That's not an addiktion, that's a necessity"

No, I mean when you say, "OK, just one more game and then I'll go to bed"  ....Admit it Mummy, you are addikted to (here it is folks - she is telling my secrets)  Computer Solitaire...........

Yup, plain old computer Solitaire has got me in it's grips - you know, the one at the top of the list when you click on the "Start" menu on your PC- not online or anything - just plain old Solitaire...I can sure see how people can get into trouble with gambling.  You think, just one more game and I'll win the next one. 

Holy cow! 

Who'd a thought?

So, at some point last summer, our water started to taste like dirt, or mold, or something icky to me - and since I asked The Shepherd and he didn't notice anything, and the pipes in our house are the same ones that came with the house, I was perplexed.

But I mentioned it at work and one of the ladies that I work with said, "Oh, that's because of the algae blooms on Lake Whatcom (our water source) and they have been putting lots of extra chlorine in the water to get rid of it."  Well, makes sense, I guess - but in the meantime - what to do. 

Then, one day I was walking through the local drugstore and wandered down the small appliance aisle - and what did I find, but a Britta water filter pitcher.  It was under $30 - what could I lose and if it really worked, I would gain - good tasting water.  Who'd a thought that it would be so easy...

I was truly stunned that this little pitcher with it's charcoal filter would deliver what it says - Great tasting water -

So I found myself some BPA free bottles and keep a filled one in the bathroom for teeth washing and taking pills.  And those swigs of water that you need to drink in the middle of the night...

Who'd a thought that it would be so easy.  Britta's got my vote. (well so do the new Lay's Bacon Mac & Cheese flavored potato chips but that's a whole 'nuther story) 

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Happy Birthday to the "Kittens"

Hey Mummy, we're not Kittens any more, in fact, in people years we are 4, but in Cat years, we are the ripe old age of 32!

And you are very Handsome too (I can say that, I'm their Mummy)

They have grown so much.  

When we got George and Gracie in July 2011, I was told they were born in the "middle of October 2010" but the lady I got them from did not know the exact date.

I decided that 10-10-10 would be a very auspicious date for the birthday of my kitties.  Don't you think that was a good date to pick? 

Happy birthday my babies. 

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Holy Cow, it's the FIRST DAY OF FALL!!!

 So, what have I been doing all summer?, you ask...

Well, I've done a  little bit of spinning - this is some roving that I spun up for gifts for co-workers.  I call it my Seahawks yarn. I will use it to make them a cowl or a neck scarf.  If you click on the pictures, they should "biggify" a little bit & you can see the little bits of blue and green mohair that I plied into the yarn. 

And I spun up some of Elliott's wool to take to the NW Washington Fair.  Look!  I got a blue ribbon!  

I truly thought I'd get the blue on my Seahawks yarn and not on the white, but she didn't like how I had plied it.  Judges - they are so picky...

She also counted me down on how I tied the skein, even though I had used yarn from the skein to tie it.  I guess I'll suggest that we have a "skein tieing for the fair" class next year at our spinner guild meeting. 

Here's a picture of both skeins of Seahawks yarn - you can see the green mohair bits in this picture a little better.  

But this is when I know I'm doing it right - this is all that was left from two bobbins of singles after I plied up the second skein  - just about a foot or so.  I'd say "I rock"  

This was taken in our front yard only a week ago - the Katsura and the birches are really starting to turn now - I'd say they are as surprised as I was to have summer end. 

Well, that's all for now -  We'll be back soon! (and a lot sooner than the last time...) 

A lazy Caturday

Just wandering around the gardens a couple of weeks ago - we had our first corn of the year last night for dinner - it was truly delish!

 We had a couple inches of very needed rain last week, and the temps dropped about 15 degrees for a couple of days - it was nice to have it cool off!

The front deck is always a nice place to sit on a summer's eve and the petunias are so fragrant - plus there are a couple little froggies living in there, so they serenade us.

We will be going up to Blaine for a fund raiser concert for our church this afternoon.  I have been busy making food for the reception for afterwards.  

It's always fun to tag along with George, Gracie and Bella out in the garden. 

Who knows what kind of mayhem will ensue...

Ooops, lasers activated. 

Calm down kitties!

One more frontal attack!  

"You can't see me"....................

"Oh, yes, I can"


Happy Caturday everyone! 









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Three Beautiful Things -

 I realized that I hadn't done a Three Beautiful Things post in quite a while -

So here are three beautiful things from our garden -

First is another picture of one of our Bellingham Lilies -

 The Shepherd's petunia garden is in full bloom right now.

This is one of my favorite views on the farm - sitting by the barn and looking towards the house.  This view changes weekly as the seasons move along.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Three Beautiful Things this week! 

Meet the "Flockers"

Halo Effurybody and Effury Kittie!

George here with the summer "state of the union" event - W&W   -  or Worming & Weaning! 

Our friend Nurse Nancy came over to help, since Mummy is not too steady on her feet out in the barn.  

The Shepherd tried a new approach this time - he gathered everysheep into a smaller pen inside the barn using panels from the lambing jugs! 

It worked like a dream. Everyone was calm and, most importantly, easy to catch - no running or jumping - what a concept. 

So, without further ado - Meet The Flockers! 

This is Frostiana - her wool is much like her daddy, Elliott's wool - lusterous and long.

This is Lori - she needs a new home. 









Her wool will eventually be white - but I think this first fleece will be fawn colored.

This is Ana - She needs a new home too. 

Ana's fleece is more mioget - golden - and I think this lamb fleece will be beautiful! 

Elsie is what we call a "snausage sheep"  - she is a little roly-poly -   but she is one of The Shepherd's favorite little girls.  She likes to lie down on his feet! 

Elsie is Ana's sister - and she'll be staying here on the farm.

Lettie is Lori's sister - she really does have a sweet face when she's not being strangulated to death by The Shepherd. 

And Whoo-ee - look at the color of her fleece!

Vikki is also a favorite of The Shepherd.  We thought she was going to be black and white from looking at her when she was born - but look at her now - soon she'll be white. 










She also has her daddy, Elliott's fleece characteristics.  Soft and lustrous.

Christopher will have a nice white fleece - he needs a new home - because we have limited space - the only wether that we can keep is the ram buddy - that will be Jackson (see below)

Christopher will have a beautiful white fleece! 

Here's our "ram buddy" Jackson - he is very close to Django in size and temperament.

I'm hoping that we will have some fleeces to take to Black Sheep next year.  What do you think? 

And here's our new little man himself.  Django! 


Pretty color, good nature, and nice fleece - we have 3 or 4 ewes who are not very closely related who will be put in with him in the fall. 

Talk about a golden fleece! 

Donna, Sandy & Vanessa look somewhat relieved that the lambs are out in a pasture by themselves - but oh, what a racket!  Great amounts of wailing and gnashing of teeth! 

"Gracie, do you think they'll ever shut up?"

"I don't know George - those lambs sure can do a good holler" 

Mummy here - The lambs pretty much cried for 24 hours, STRAIGHT!  Then they realized that they were on this wonderful lush pasture, and one by one, they quieted down.  Thank heavens! 




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The fires of creation -

 Here is The Shepherd out standing in his field - a field of Bellingham Lillies- a relatively rare plant, that seems to like our yard.

The weekend has just flown by - I worked until noon on Wednesday, the day of my surgery - we didn't have to be at the surgery center in Mt. Vernon until 2:30 - so we both worked 1/2 day.  Kept my mind off of things, I think.  The rest of the weekend was spent napping and spinning and napping and trying to ignore the piteous cries of 9 lambs who had been taken away from their mamas (that is enough to send you straight to the freezer for that pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream!!) and napping and  practicing my guitar.


 You see, after 47 years of playing guitar, I decided that I needed to learn how to play open tuning so I could learn a song by my friend Tracy Spring - in fact, I'm taking lessons from her.  It's been fun, but it is such a different technique from what I know.  Even though I've learned the song I wanted to learn, I'm not sure if it's for me.

I am, however, in awe of Tracy's songwriting ability.  I think I've told you before about MY song writing ability - sadly, it pretty much amounts to drivel.




I like to write (ie my blog), I just have no talent to put it to music. 


"Do I , Gracie? "

"Nope, not so much - here Mummy, why don't you just stop and smell the flowers?"

 Speaking of flowers - here is one of The Shepherd's favorite "mini" bonsai plants - a dwarf astilbe.  Pretty cute huh?

Anyhow, getting back to the music thing -

Luckily, I know lots of talented musical people - another person whose music I like is Unitarian Universalist musician, Jim Scott - he's going to be on the west coast next month - we're hoping to get down to the Seattle area to hear his concert.

"May the dance take me lightly in its arms
May the song lift me gently on its wings,
May the fires of creation burn brightly in my heart,
That I might so briefly touch the magic of all things."

From "The Fires of Creation" by our friend Jim Scott





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