Merry Christmas....

Rouen comes up for a good Christmas scratch

Tabitha relishes her Christmas hay and the warm sunshine

....from myself and all the critters here at Fairlight Farm The baking is over, presents have been wrapped (and already unwrapped), visits and deliveries made to dear friends, and Christmas hay and treats passed out to the critters. The sun is shinning and the animals are basking contentedly and quietly in it's warmth.Birdie forgets she is a wild sheep and rushes up for a possible Christmas treat

In the height of the hustle and bustle, I find myself losing focus of what Christmas is about. But then the peacefulness of the morning brings it back. The celebration of the birth of our Savior. That simple and that wonderful. I also find balance again, when I connect with my loved ones, family and friends. It's a time to make time to visit with friends and enjoy them. It's also a time to be so very grateful for the family that I have been blessed with.

Luna's "Cookies please?" face

Truly the world has become too fast paced for me and it's nice to have a chance to bring it back to what is important.

Here is hoping that your life and family and critters all have a blessed, peaceful and loving Christmas. I'm so thankful for family, old friends and all the new friends I have gained through this blog.

Silent Night

Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin
Mother and child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night
Darkness flies, all is light
Shepherds hear the angels sing
Alleluia! hail the King
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Silent night, holy night
Wondrous Star, lend thy light
With the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born

Last Minute Gift Idea

Start with a Rare Hubcap

Assemble your tools (ruler, Drill, (the dremel tool was back up to the drill), clock workings & stick on numbers.)

Finished Wall Hubcap Clock

So, I meant to get this posted weeks ago, but that didn't happen. I couldn't post it last year, because it was going to my brother and I didn't want him to see it. It's a pretty simple project to make, once you find all the 'ingredients'. In this case, my brother has always been a talented mechanic, so I wanted to make something car related. I had seen this idea somewhere on the Internets a while back, so that got the wheels turning, so to speak.

The hardest part was finding a hubcap. I know. Those things used to be everywhere, but suddenly I couldn't find any. I looked at flea markets, along the roadside, asked friends and family. I didn't go the junk yard, but they probably do have hubcaps there. Finally one of my friends came through and found one for me.

The clock kit itself can be purchased at a hobby store, like Hobby Bobby (uh, Lobby) for around $5-6 dollars, plus a little set of stick on numbers which is around $3. Unless your hubcap has a conveniently placed hole in the middle you will need to drill one hole. This hubcap had a plastic insert in the area I needed to drill and managed to crack a little. The clock innards covered that up though.

Once you get the hole drilled, you place the little stem of the clock kit in the hole and tighten up the back. It requires batteries to run and you are in business. I did have a little trouble getting the thing to run properly and since I waited to the last minute, I just went ahead and sent my brother this clock plus an extra set of the clock mechanism. He said it worked fine though and seemed to enjoy it.

Christmas is almost here! Ack! I've got to go and start the baking marathon, since I put that off to the last minute too.

Getting Ready

I live in a Paranoid State. And I'm not the only one. Mention 'ice storm' even in the smallest of way, and suddenly people are freaking out all over the place, preparing for the worst, with dread in the deepest reaches of their souls. For any new readers of this blog, in January of 2007 we experienced a catastrophic ice storm that caused massive damage to trees and took out our electricity for 13 days. It also caused massive damage to our nerves.

We might get some ice, according to the weather people, but folks I've talked with are getting this hollow look about them, when this ice word comes up for discussion. I'm really hoping that we won't get much, if any. We are on the edge of the affected (supposedly) counties, so we might be okay. I imagine the roads will be a mess regardless, so I do dread that. What is going to happen, if the weather people are right, is the current 60 degrees we are having, will drop down in the twenties, anytime between 6 p.m. tonight and 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. At the same time moisture will move into the area, and depending on how the cold front and moisture combine, we will get ice, sleet or snow. Possibly all three. Accumulations look light at this point, but there is no way to really tell.

I spent part of the afternoon once I got home from church getting things prepared. I carried about three days worth of wood into the house...so I got a little carried away..but... I also have the gate to the rams pen on a quick release setup, so I can toodle out there when the rain starts and let Jeff and Cal into the pen where their shed is. Jeff is banished to the outermost areas at this time of the year because of the ewes, but I won't leave them out without shelter during a potential ice storm. I also fixed the panel gates where they are up off the ground about an inch on one end (tie or wire to fence), which makes it easier to break them loose. I'll bring in the gate locks tonight. I filled up all the water troughs for the sheep and if it starts getting bad, I'll fill up extra water containers in the house. The whole time I was scurrying about, local farmers on tractors or in trucks, were driving by with loads of hay for their cows. One fellow I talked to at church has it rigged up where he can feed his cows up to a week in the advent of catastrophic weather, just by opening gates. I noticed that the guy who has the heifers adjoining my place loaded them all up over the weekend to take home. So it might not get bad, but nobody wants to be caught out and unprepared this time.

I've also been trying to get Angry Noel the Christmas Turkey to eat some food. I'll blog about that experience sometime but right now I'm not too optimistic at this point that it will survive. One word of advice---when you are driving about your business don't look in the ditches! Eyes to the front. It's easier that way.

I started this post on Sunday, and here it is Thursday. There were some pictures that I wanted to upload with it, but since time is flying by, I'll just post it picture-less. It's been a heck-ish week, weather wise, and I'm getting rather worn out. We did not get any major ice accumulation, but the roads have been mighty slick at times. We've had a steady influx of cold air and misty/drizzly stuff almost every morning. The nights have been frigid and it takes allot of extra time to make sure all the old critters are prepared to survive the nights. Because of the nasty roads I've been leaving about a half hour earlier, so I leave in the dark and get home in the dark. Just hoping all the critters are okay, because it sure is hard to tell in the dark! Today is suppose to warm up to the 40s and hopefully that will melt some of this junk off. If you can walk on the grass it's okay, but all the paths and hard surfaces have packed sleet/snow, with a greasy glaze. I'm ready for the weekend. I'm so not ready for Christmas either. It's just crazy. No cards sent out, no baking done, still shopping for a few last minute presents. This weekend, I'll be doing allot of baking, it looks like. So far Angry Noel survives. One tough turkey.

I Killed A Toy Today

Here's My House In the Snow

I couldn't stand it any longer. I turn a blind eye to all the poor stuffed toys that litter the yard, only picking up the pieces if one meets the shredder. If I nearly fall over a limp teddy bear, well that's just the way it goes. But today... I couldn't take it anymore. Boone has been nursing along this stuffed dog for weeks now. It's currently his favorite. The reason it's his favorite is because it barks--it sounds like a Chihuahua on speed. Every time he chomps it, it 'rawr rawr rawrs'. This can be very startling at 5:30 in morning, outside in the black dark.

This Is Boone, Faking Being Playful
(I kept encouraging him and he did this one little prance to get me off his back)

So he was carrying this thing around all day, making it bark. It was incredibly annoying. He would prance up and down the fence line where the sheep are with the toy dog in his mouth. They were freaked--and kept stomping their feet at this 'thing'. So late in the afternoon, the thing got stuck...it kept barking and barking and barking. Everywhere I went, here came Boone, with this barking thing in his mouth. It was getting weaker, and weaker, but not weak enough. Finally I snatched it up and smashed it against the wall! It's not stuck anymore.


In other exciting events (not), it has been a rather cold and windy weekend. The sun shone quite a bit so that helped. I was able to clean out my little storage shed and move my lawn tractor in there. I had to take out the battery and air up the tires before I could move it. Of course the shed shouldn't have been so crammed full of stuff, but it was, so it took some time to sort it out and make room. Another thing I needed to get done was go up to the well house and pull the insulation around the pipes. I'd opened it up over the summer to spray for ants. Blue and Lanny are in the paddock where the well house is, so I had to lure them into the catch pen and lock them up while I went up there. Blue knew something was up, so every time I tried to open the gate, he would run over there. (I fed him a little grain to keep him distracted while I opened and shut gates---you don't want to go into the pasture with him!) So that took a little longer than needed. I also put them a fresh bale of hay out in their feeder while I was at it.

Today I got most of the 'false fence' put up. This is a section of the night paddock that the ewes stay in, and it will border Blue's paddock when I get him moved over to his winter quarters. I'm trying to be pro-active here and keep stress to a minimum (on me!). I don't want him and the ewes to be able to share the fence line, and this will put about six feet between them, with a 'no rams land' in between. I used cattle panels, so it isn't permanent. In years past they have shared a fence line with no problem, but with this year, I trust nothing! I still need to get a big round bale out before I move Blue and Lanny over, but once that is done, I will finish the two sections left on the fence. The steering linkage on my Dad's tractor broke, right in the middle of putting out a bale for the ewes last week, so he had to get that in and fixed before we can try again. Anyway, within the week, I should have them moved over and set for winter. They will be happy, as they don't care much for the paddock they are in. Such creatures of habit they are.

That about sums up the weekend! I stayed inside quite a bit, because it was just so cold and windy. I need to work on some Christmas cards or something. It sure doesn't seem like Christmas is almost here! Very strange season.

This Is A Little Deer Fawn Named Tabitha
(Okay, It's A Sheep Named Tabitha that was mad and stomping her feet at the real dog with the toy dog)

I Need An Intervention...Uhm..In Just A Minute....

I really don't know how this happened. I don't remember too good--it's all a blur. The thing is, I've found some awesome deals on used books the last month or two. Maybe if I stayed out of used books stores and stuff, but still....This is my To Be Read pile. The only thing is, it must be my Auxiliary TBR pile, because I have a whole shelf for the Regular TBR books. This started out as a small overflow, stacked on top of my radio/record player. Suddenly one day it looked like this! I went to our local Library used book store, which I've mentioned before, and got quite a few books on CD--for like .50 cents each! Then there was the Publishers Outlet visit--where I was looking for Christmas presents, yeah, thats it, Christmas presents.

I don't even know if I'll like half these books, but you just never know where you'll find your next favorite author! So, you gotta keep looking, right?

I really do need more shelves.......

Operation Ram Drop Off

Here are the three boys, all loaded up in the sheep carrier. That is beautiful Orion and his fluffy self , blocking the other two. You can barely see Omen in the very back--the one with the black nose.
Here you can see Just Jack facing the camera (looks all innocent, doesn't he?), and beautiful Orion and his slightly ratty, not so beautiful tail.

The Saturday before last, I got up early, did chores and built a catch pen for the ram lambs. It was time for Operation Ram Drop Off. In case I haven't mentioned it, breeding season went very smooth around here. At first. Too smooth you might say. That all went to you-know-where in a hand basket, when Rain helped bust Sprat (who is now called Just Jack), out of his breeding group and in with the main flock of ewes. Phew.... I was not happy to discover him in with 'the girls'. Damage appeared to be two unplanned ewes bred. Rain and Tabitha both seemed to be in season on that glorious day. It gets worse. After barricading and reinforcing the fence, I went about my life, thinking all would be well. What I should have done, was drag that little ram squirt down to the ram lambs pen that very minute...but noooooo.... Four days later my Mom calls and tells me Just Jack was in with the main flock--again. I took off early, headed home. Caught Just Jack and hauled his little butt down to the ram lamb pen. It was cold and his raddle paint was needing to be replaced so I'm not sure who all was bred, but, for sure Blackberry. Probably Rouen. Possibly one of the big white sheep. (Let me take a moment to beat my head against my desk...). The best I can tell, J. Jack went under the fence that time. I'm trying to keep an eye on the sheep, praying that some of these girls didn't catch and will recycle. If not, that means not six ewes lambing, but ten...possibly eleven... nooo! While I'm trying not to dwell on it, this really is a hard blow. With the economy I had hoped to have a small lambing this year. I also just wanted things to be more manageable. Oh well.....so it goes.

Anyway. After all the damage was done, I wanted to see Just Jack back home as soon as possible before he got more ideas. Putting him with the other two ram lambs distracted him for several days so we made it to the weekend, without further incident.

After a brief flurry of 'no way, no how' on Just Jack's part about going in the catch pen, I was able to get all three boys up. My Dad came up and helped me load them up. I wormed them as they went in.

Allena had offered to overwinter my two, plus Jack belongs to her, so that is where we were headed. It's a little over an hour away, and I took the back way, so it was a rather pleasant little drive. Not much traffic, several deer though, so I went slow and enjoyed the sunny day. The boys did great and rode quietly the whole way.

Once I got to Allena's we unloaded, and looked over some of her ewes, comparing fleece and other things that sheepy people do. Just enjoying talking sheep. The ram lambs were dumped in with the ram flock, so there was allot of chasing around, but limited fighting. Of course once I got there, I totally forgot about my camera! Argh.....

Hopefully my little guys will do well, and behave themselves. I think it will benefit them to be raised in a larger ram flock. Both of them are for-sale still, and I believe that Orion's horn will clear. It will be close, but I think it will make it. Allena promised to keep an eye on it for me over the next few months.

After I had removed J. Jack from the ewe flock, I went ahead and put the ewes back in with the main flock, and 'tore down' the breeding paddock--moved waterers, cleaned feeders etc. The ewes were ten times worse than the rams in fighting. All the rest of that day and into the night, little rats. Rouen, who has the distinction of being oldest sheep on the farm at age eight, was injured I think. I'm guessing either a slight concuss, or bruised ribs. I told her she was not as young as she used to be, but she wouldn't listen. I did worry about her and kept a close eye on her during the night and the next day. She seems fine though. At the time, she would lay down, curl her lip and shift around very uncomfortable. It never got to the grinding teeth stage though.

I'm very glad that the girls are back together now, and the ram lambs are delivered to their winter home. Things are quieter and chores are easier as we settle in for the winter.

On the road again...this stretch of road has red paving...but it doesn't show up well in the picture. I find it fascinating!

A Tale of Four Felines

I think I've mentioned before that I have four outside cats and two inside cats. Meshach & Sage the inside boys often show up on the blog. However, today, I thought I would give equal time to the 'girls'. I've had people ask me 'why do you have inside and outside cats'? "How can you choose certain ones to get the luxury of the house and others have to stay out?" Well....to both questions, I just do.... It's not that simple of course, but it has worked well around here. Always there are cats that are showing up, always. My house is small, and in the interest of harmony and health of the inside cats, I limit the numbers. I think three would be the maximum, and two works very well. One time, years ago, I tried to let my big inside cat, Shadrach, outside --he would be an indoor-outdoor cat, and would have the best of both worlds. That lasted until I looked out the window and saw one of the outside boys leading Shad off across the road. The second time I tried it, Shad was attacked by a neighboring tomcat, and I ended up paying big bucks to get him treated for puncture wounds and infection. So, inside cats stay inside. Outside cats stay outside. It works for me. I do try and keep the numbers to a reasonable amount outside, but otherwise homeless kitties can find a safe haven here. All cats are spayed and neutered, and wormed if needed. They come and go, with several barns, fields, the ruins and the yard to prowl in. There are lots of abandoned buildings in the area, and some of the cats include them in their haunts. Of course there are roads too, and over the years I've lost a couple to this tragic end.

Right now there are four cats that make their home as 'farm cats' here, all coincidentally females. In order of their appearance here on the farm, I've included pictures and a little about them.

Madison

Two days and ten years ago, it was the day before Thanksgiving, and my last day at work before a four day weekend. At noon, I took off to run some errands. On the way back, as I pulled up to a four way stop at the corner of where I work, I noticed this teeny, tiny kitten, just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. It was all alone, with no other cats or people around. Hmmm... I parked my vehicle and walked over to see about this little creature. Well, it might have been tiny, but it was fast, and ran like the dickens. I went in to work, and proceeded to worry about it all afternoon. I walked over there a time or two and it would skedaddle. As I was leaving to go home, I didn't see it anywhere. I decided to just go on home, but at the last minute thought "I'd just drive around the block one more time and see if I could see it again". Of course I saw it. I pulled the truck up, grabbed a pair of gloves and approached it again. It ran---straight into a big shaggy bush. Evidently it felt safe, but I reached in and grabbed it. I held tight as the tiny scrap started hissing and biting and kicking. Once in the truck, I grabbed a towel off the seat and stuffed it under there. Almost immediately she went limp.. exhausted & scared-- poor thing. She was very hungry and tired. I had found her at the corner of Madison Avenue, so she was pretty easy to name her. I call her my 'city cat', with 'city cat attitude'. At first she had a hard go around here,as the other resident cats picked on her. She was so tiny, probably not more than five weeks, that I kept her penned up for a time unless I was around. Finally she graduated to being out all the time, but since she was so tiny, I would warm a brick for her each night to sleep next to. Then one day, Gideon, a crusty old ex-tom decided to adopt her. They would curl up together at night and suddenly she didn't need a warm brick! Gideon was the first and last cat she ever liked. She has been a terror at times to the other cats, but has finally mellowed down some with age. She isn't big on affection, but she will come up for occasional pets. She has a perpetual scowl, and not much use for cats, dogs or most people. She did love Jody (the collie)--all the cats did. Off and on she takes up residence in my folks barn, and turns her back on her 'real' home. It's hard to believe she is ten years old!

Tibby

The following early summer after Madison appeared, I had another refugee stop by. One evening I walked out into the yard, and I saw a cat creeping across an open patch. I walked over to it, calling it to me. She seemed tame enough, but was very skinny and raggedy looking. I went in and got some food for her. As I took it towards her, she got a whiff of it, and went nuts---wailing and running at me. It startled me a bit, but I quickly set the food down, and she dived in. The other cats didn't want her around (namely Madison), so she moved out to the barn yard. She lived with the chickens and Lady the horse, and wouldn't venture out from under the chicken house unless I was around to coax her out. She was a sad little soul and I felt sorry for her. I fixed a warm bed for her, and she had plenty to eat, but she seemed so lonely. The next year a tiny little kitten came howling out of the field and took up residence here. Desi-Lu's stay here was brief--only two years (she died of severe anemia and complications, cause unknown), but her and Tibby needed each other and bonded strongly. It was a turning point for Tibs and she gained a playmate and friend and some courage. When I got the sheep she adopted them, and they would practically fall down hoping she would rub their faces. However she would smartly slap them if they got too pushy, and they vied for her queenly favors. Eventually Tibby started on "A Mission" and ... "Operation Move to the Breezeway" commenced. She did it in slow increments, daring to come closer and closer every few days. Then one day there she was! In the breezeway, which is connected to the house and is actually a long enclosed, open ended hallway, she now lives. The yard is her oyster, and she has a fancy well insulated house in the breezeway, with her own heat-able disc that goes in with her on really cold nights. She has always been a small and frail thing, but plenty feisty. I guesstimate her age when she came here as about two years, but I'm really not sure. That would put her at 10-11 years old now.

Dixie & Echo

This is another one of those bizarre situations I get sucked into, that leads me to believe there is a secret sign at the end of my driveway for wayward and homeless critters to see. Before Dixie showed up, there was Chet--a big rambunctious but sweet orange and white tom. He wasn't much more than a year old if that, and was quite the character. Sage actually reminds me allot of him. Chet moved in in November of 2002. One day he was just there. In April he brought his sister. (Of course I'm just speculating, but she sure looked like him in the face). He moved her into the ruins in the back. He let me know she was there, of course---he went out, sat on the wall, invited her to join him, looked pointedly at me and meowed. Loudly. Well, this little grey kitty was a friendly thing. A little shy, but sweet. I fed her a few days, when one night I noticed she was very fat. Uh oh.... About two weeks after that, Dixie had her kittens. Four of them. Determined not to have any little feral kitty babies around, I boxed the kittens up and moved them to a two story cat condo in the yard. I put Dixie in a pet taxi to take her down there. She busted out and ran back to her babies... only I already had them. I finally got her reunited. For such a timid little soul, she became a very fierce mother. No one was allowed around her precious babies.. except Chet and well, me of course. At the time I had Tibby, Madison, Chet, and Dixie, and was not happy with the idea of four more little kittens. I ended up finding homes for three of them (they were all grey tigers--three just like her, and one looked like Madison!), and 'let her' keep one. She loved her babies so much, I just couldn't see giving them all away. However once they were weaned she was so outta here! Huh. To this day she still disappears for days on end, then will show back up for weeks, then off again. She has a strong bond with her daughter Echo, but strangely enough, Tibby ended up keeping the young teenage Echo company, while her mum roamed off. Echo, never took up the wandering habit, and when she isn't here in the yard, she hangs out in the sheep paddock. The sheep of course love her, now that Tibby has no time for them. Tibby,timid soul that she used to be, hates Dixie, loves Echo, even smarts off to Madison at times. Echo loves her mum, Dixie, loves Tibby and even likes Madison. She is the spoiled baby of the bunch. The rest of them spit nails at each other, and I have to have three different feeding spots just to keep the peace! Thankfully age has mellowed them down a bit. Dixie is most likely around six years and Echo is five. I suppose you've guessed that I named Echo that because she looks so much like her mom? They are very similar, except Dixie has swirls and Echo has stripes.

Boone doesn't like cats too much (and loves to chase them), so we've all had to compromise and work out a solution. Boone gets to stay out in the yard three days a week and the other four days the cats can come and go at will. Boone is also put up at night, so they can prowl about at night. They also can sneak into the yard, and follow the high wall to the breezeway even when he is out. Of course, I work hard at discouraging Boone from his cat chasing, but I'm not sure he will ever be trustworthy in this respect. Because of that, I doubt there will be any new cats/kittens anytime soon. Then again, you did not hear me just say that!!!

Another Thing Crossed Off The List

Where I work, we have been getting off the day before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving itself and the day after for several years. This makes for a really nice long 'holiday'. Usually I take the Tuesday after my birthday off to go and finish up Christmas shopping. Well this year, my birthday fell on the Monday after Thanksgiving, so the gears started turning, and I decided to take off both Monday and Tuesday, therefore giving myself a seven day break! Almost like a real vacation! I've really enjoyed it too, and could get used to it real fast. Wednesday was spent going to get fitted for and picking up my partial plate, and preparing food for Thanksgiving. Also cleaning the kitchen up, so I'd have room to prepare food. Of course Thursday was Thanksgiving so I spent the day with my family, eating, relaxing and visiting.

Friday, I did not venture out of my snug little world, but instead did some Internet shopping. I cleaned house, and worked on the Fire Department mail out.

Saturday was damp and cold. I knew I needed to burn brush piles, but I worked mightily at talking myself out of it. It was cold. It could rain at any time. Oh, look, I believe the wind has picked up, the way it's blowing the grass around. My inner wimp tried so hard, and this was all before I even went out to do chores! Once I got outside it was actually rather nice. It was damp, but not cold, it wasn't raining, and there wasn't much breeze. I decided to start on the little brush pile in front of the house, work up some courage as it were. I hauled down the three bags of cockle burrs, which were nice and dried out and good fire fodder. I also took down some old tarps, and a trash bag that contained an old leaky bean bag. It didn't take much to get the fire going. It roared up pretty good, but nothing too scary. While it was burning, I trimmed the rose bushes by the driveway and added discarded limbs to the pile. Okay, not so bad. Once the little pile was under control I decided to attack the 'big one'. Truly this thing was a monster. It was the last of the brush piles from the 2007 Ice Storm, and was probably 20 foot or better wide. I meant to burn it last year, but just never worked up the nerve. It was located in Blue and Lanny Wilson's (Merino ram/wether) home paddock and took up a good bit of what could have been pasture. It also made putting out a big bale for them more of a challenge. I filled several feed sacks full of hay off the hay barn floor, as well as string from the bales, and toted them up there. I got buckets of water ready, as well as my rake and pitchfork...and my cell phone...just in case. Then I struck the match. Started out nice enough, then suddenly poof! The whole dry mess of it ignited and all I could do was stand back and watch in stunned horror. Please God, don't let the wind blow. Please God, don' t let that tree catch fire....The flames were leaping probably 30 foot in the air. Thankfully, by the time the wind did blow a little, the flames had stabilized a bit. I took a picture of the burn pile, once it had died down a little to show how wide across it was, but for some reason it didn't take. The tree had a few leaves curl up , but didn't catch on fire. Whew. For comparison that oak tree just behind and to the left of the fire is about 18 years old. Once it was settled down, I got myself moving and went around the paddock and picked up limbs that I hadn't thrown on there yet. I also was able to fill up two sacks of kindling to add to my stash. The fire was so hot that very little was left, once it died down. Throughout the day I went up and raked in the debris, so that when it was over, there was just a little ash pile (which is still smoldering). That evening we got rain/snow so I didn't even have to worry about it overnight. I can't even tell you how relieved I am to have that done!

Sunday was spent as mentioned in a previous post. Today (Monday), I did a few needed chores outside. The girls have about decimated their big bale and so I cleaned up what was on the hay barn floor and loaded it on a tarp and took it to them. Tomorrow we will probably put out another big bale for them. The picture is of the bale right after I took the ring off it the day before Thanksgiving. At this point the sheep can't reach the core through the ring. There is very little of it left today. Waste has really been minimal, which means that the sheep are finding much of it leafy and palatable. This bale was put out on October 17, so it has lasted close to seven weeks. However, six of the ewes were in a different pasture with the ram, and there was still a bit of grass and lots of leaves to munch on during this time. I do think that these bales will last 18 sheep close to five weeks though, which is great news.

This morning I also sawed some boards for the floor of a pre-fab cabinet that I got , which seems to be missing a crucial part--the floor of the cabinet. Tonight it's a little birthday party at my folks' house. Tomorrow I hope to go shopping (and hope the crowds will be minimal), then it's back to work!

Sunday Walk

Yesterday, it was cold and snowy almost all day. The ground was warm, so the snow didn't start to stick until evening, and we ended up getting about an inch and half of accumulation.

Sundays are traditionally 'go for a walk' days for the dogs, and I try and hold to that if at all possible. During the week, I seldom get to take them out, unless it's a quick prowl across the field. Even though they have a fenced yard and fenced property that they can run on with supervision, it's still exciting for them to 'go somewhere'.

Boone & Ariel leashed up and off we go!

Yesterday, Boone was revved up from the moment I got outside. He can be almost scary when he is that excited! Imagine 127 pounds of pure (klutzy) energy bouncing and running around and you get the idea.

After I got home from church, I changed clothes and bundled up to take the dogs out. Boone needed to burn off some energy! He gets to stay out in the yard three days a week (unsupervised)---it's complicated, but it has to do with the cats, and Sunday is one of his 'free' days. While I was gone he pulled the comforter off the dogs breezeway bed and dragged it out into the yard--and 'unstuffed' some of it. The whole time I'm in the house getting ready he is looking in the door..'please are we going for a walk now..huh,huh??'

Down the gravel road..

It was blowing snow (even though it didn't show up well in these photos!) and pretty cold, but we set off anyway. We went on the gravel road this time, instead of down the highway. Ariel gamely plodded along, but her heart just wasn't into the whole cold/snow blowing/walking idea. Very few leaves are left on the trees and it looked grey and stark out there, but it was an invigorating walk and I enjoyed it.

The starkness of this solitary tree caught my eye. You can still see some of the broken limbs from the ice storm two years ago.

After I got home, I carried in quite a few loads of wood, with the intention of holing up for the rest of the afternoon...with a good book perhaps. Boone thought we should play though, so between loads I'd throw one of his many toys and he'd run and capture it....over and over.

I was freezing and ready to head in by that time. When I looked back outside a few moments later, I saw Boone standing at the door--still with the 'wanna come out and play look' on his face! Silly guy. He seems to think the colder and snowier the better. I heard him later tearing around and around the house and breezeway as hard as he could, which sounds a bit like a freight train running through. Later I gave them a little snack and he finally seemed ready to take a snooze. Wish I had that energy.

Dontcha want to play??? Boone uses his 'winsome' face...