Here I Am Again

Willow is still with us--she will be 17 this year.  She is my first Shetland.

It's been a long, long time since I last blogged.  I'd like to start again.  I'm not sure how that will go.  Maybe just pictures, a few stories here and there.  The farm is still ticking along.  Still have collies, cats and sheep.    I don't raise lambs anymore, and the sheep farm is more like a Care Center for the Aged and Infirm.  Keeps me pretty busy.   

The year of 2017 was filled with some awful things, terrible losses.  We lost my Dad.   Someday I might talk about that more.   But not this first blog back.   

Stunning Sunset--the skies have been glorious this past year.

Monumentally I joined Facebook.  Kinda hate it, kinda like it.  But it seems the way to go nowadays and I'm 'in the loop' now with what goes on--and I get to see lots of extended friends and family photos.   Plus I got some good hay out of it, when my hay supplier moved away and I didn't know where to get the winters supply.  So there is that.  

My internet connection at home is...so....slow....that I can't really do much computer work at home, so I tuck it in around work.  I hope (someday) we get out of the dead space and get some decent internet connectivity again.  Maybe if certain companies would see fit not to oversell their customer base that might help too.

Neighborhood Watch.  Chickie, Rosemary, Persia & Eve

There are 14 left in the sheep flock.  I sheared 17 with scissors this past Spring.  My shearer had to retire due to health concerns, and I didn't know until it was time to shear.  It was an interesting experience.  I guess I get to do it again here in a few months.  

Girls (Minty, Carly & Ashley) with their hunter orange on.

I bought a new camera!  So excited to have a good camera again and taking lots and lots and lots of pictures.  And I've started trying to be creative again too...sometimes I do better than others--but have  been dabbling in painting--acrylics, oils, watercolors and have taken up needle felting again.  Still learning on that, but love it.   Hoping (someday) to get a little building for a studio, so I can leave projects out to work on (impossible with kitties in the house). 

Oil and Gesso Forest Scene

Indian Creek Snowstorm--Watercolor

Oh.  And I'm feeling lots better health wise now.  Got myself pretty sick with diabetes before I went to the doctor and figured out what was wrong. Still have some ground to gain back but getting there.  Things had piled up around here too, so am trying to catch up from several years of not feeling good.

Needle Felted Chipmunk

Needle  Felted Doe

And I think that is a good start.  I always have liked to blog and keep a record of the homestead, so my goal is to do that again and I hope some of you are still around to journey with me!  Now for some pretty pictures.    

Grey Pony--Acrylics

Awash In Spring Things

So I forgot to post this, a little outdated...but here you go....

Tang "the Kid"---nearly a year old and busy all the time

It's that time of year!  Along with the  warmer days, and the lovely green grass comes so many things to do...and they all need doin' now!
 

A glorious Spring Sunrise

The sheep are sheared (hallelujah) without incident and 18 fleeces are awaiting the final picking over and processing, but they'll have to wait their turn.

A variety of lettuce--planted in March and ready to pick!

The Collies were all carrying their messy winter coats around--mats and all.  Two have been bribed and boosted up onto the grooming table to brush, de-tangle and trim.  Carly still awaits her beauty treatment...then it'll be start over time again, as more coat sheds and tangles in the other two.  A bath is badly needed by all three.

Callum & Willow  hanging out in the Assisted Living wing.  Callum is 11 and his mom Willow is 14.  They have their own stall at night and their own grassy paddock in the day.

The tomatoes, peppers, peas, carrots, squash and pumpkins all had to be planted.  Still have a few things to get in the ground, but it's looking better.  Everything will need to be mulched soon, before the weeds consume them.   The day after shearing I headed out and did some plant shopping over at the Mennonite communities.  I may or may not have bought 34 tomato plants...it's all a blur and I don't remember.   By 'sharing' (willing parties or not) with my Mom, Sister & Niece  I pared it down to something like 14, 15, 17 something plants...or so.    I have lots of different heirloom varieties.  I did confine myself to 2 pepper plants--yay me!

Beautiful roses from my Beautiful Niece

The yard and pastures are running amok and neither the sheep nor I can keep up with it all.  I'm having to mow and mow just to keep everything from turning into waist high weeds and seed heads.  We've had some lovely rains--and it makes a difference.  I turn the sheep on the big pasture during the day and let them run the front pasture (which surrounds my fenced yard) at night.  Eat! Eat!  I tell them.  They look like bowling balls with legs.     

Cookie time for Gracie!  Her eye is completely healed.  After spending big bucks on prescription meds from the vet, and no relief for her and nothing to lose we went another route.  Plain triple antibiotic ointment for people smeared in her eye daily and supplementing with L-lysine for a week made for a dramatic turnaround.  I'm so happy.  

Did someone say Cookies???   Blackberry is another cookie monster and you have to watch your fingers with her! She is a Willow daughter too.

I love Spring, but it's a time when I just see so much that needs to be done and none of it should wait, that I feel overwhelmed....then slowly slowly I'll start to make some headway as we fall into the hot steady drone of summer.  

Minty poses while on a walk. 

And so I'll just leave you with some pictures and hope to soon be back to post again.  Enjoy the season!

Carly Sassy Sue

 

Ashley plodding along.  She likes neither wet ground or humid weather and is just a touch of a drama queen about it.. 

What I thought was a lovely photo of Minty...until I saw the tongue sticking out....

Brenda Lee....she was a 'drought' baby and lost her mommy to a terrible accident, so she has been spoiled a bit.  The goat stand is her own personal feeding station so the other sheep couldn't bully her out of her food.   I caught her just standing there on it the other night...perhaps dreaming of a shot of corn.

And lastly....the lovely Trinity and the Big Rotten Sage (and his teddy bear) have a quiet relaxing moment....

Collie Days of Summer

Carly & Minty on the pond bank

Awhile back Sunday turned out to be a glorious day.  It started out with rain, but cleared up warm and sunny. Perfect day for a walk with the girls. 

Carly, Minty & Ashley posing on the bank

 The dogs love their sometimes Sunday walks.  They have lots and lots of freedom during the evenings and when I'm home on the weekends.  My place is all perimeter fenced for sheep so is also safe for the dogs to run free over about four acres when we head out.   But they do love those walks off the place on the leash. It's serious business. 

Waiting at the gate for the OKAY! to start the Biscuit Hunt

All I have to do is say, 'you want to go for a walk' and pandemonium begins.   Minty tries to be good and sits, but can't stay still and gets swept up in Carly's wild jubilation more often than not.  Carly is just a rotten mess, and unfortunately I'm not much help making her behave.  She does have to sit to get collars and leash on, but trying to make her quit screeching and yodeling and twitching around with excitement is hopeless.  In the meantime, Ashley is trying to disappear, because as she likes to go, she doesn't like the 'let's go' part.  I have no idea why.  It was one of her many several idiosyncrasies that she came with when she came to live on the small farm.  

Biscuit, biscuit wheres the biscuit?!  (Minty saw me hide those by the gate, and she didn't forget)

Once everyone was safely hitched up we took a long and leisurely stroll across some neighboring fields.   Sometimes Ashley can go 'off leash' for a short time but the other two are totally untrustworthy and much to their irritation they have to stay on the long lead.

Sometimes they use sight, but often they find by scent

There was much to investigate and we took our time.  It was too pretty to rush through it.    By the time we got back the girls were getting a little warm, but the fun wasn't over yet!

Oops!  There is one they missed--Carly's long snoot comes in handy

It was time for an  Biscuit Hunt!   I periodically play this game with the girls and they love it of course.  What is not to love---treats and a race to find them before the rest of the family does.  How it works is, I put them in the fenced yard.  Then I hide the treats or in this case it was some 'free' exotic kibble samples while they watch.

This stuffed whale proved to be a treasure trove of hidden treats for Ashley & Carly

Then I open the gate and tell them to find it--being sure to stand out of the way of the 'charge'.  The girls run about and find as many treats as fast as they can.  Sometimes I have to help and give hints.  It all goes very fast.

Later it's time for a Frosty Treat!  Minty slowly licks hers out.

Sometimes as the weather gets hotter they get their own homemade 'frosty treats'  when they come in for the night.  You can buy these at the grocery store--Frosty Paws is one brand.  However I'm kinda cheap, so I just make them myself.  When I buy ice cream for me, I'll buy a pack of the small ice cream cups.  It takes me awhile to eat them all, but as I use them up, I wash the containers and save them up.  Then I make a batch of frozen doggie treats. Usually they only get one per week, but maybe I'll up it to two during the summer.  I really don't use a 'recipe', but will mix a couple of tablespoons of yogurt, one of peanut butter and warm water to mix it all up.  Then I pour it into the containers, pop on the lids and set them in the freezer.  The girls love them and take it very seriously when I hand them out.  They will take them off to one of the beds and slowly lick them out.  Carly always gets done first and she will then peel apart the container to get every last bit in the seams, but doesn't eat the container.  The other two don't shred theirs, so I can reuse their containers again--they usually hold up for several rounds.  These containers are not the plastic ones, but the paper/cardboard type.   

Ashley concentrates on getting the last drops

The pups are always eager to get in at night, especially so now that I turn the a/c on for awhile to cool it off.  After surfing through the house they usually pile up in front of the fan, with Ashley often standing in front of it blocking everyone else air flow.  Once they are cooled off and get their three little crackers each they will either have a little friendly collie brawl, or settle down with a bone to chew or just to snooze.   They do play work hard most days--especially when I'm off.  Sometimes they get pretty exhausted keeping track of me, chasing rabbits, barking at groundhogs, sheep and squirrels, and bossing each other around.

Carly works hers hard and needs her concentration

It's pretty funny some Saturdays as they faithfully troop around after me--you can tell they are getting tired and needing a nap.  I think I hear them sigh with relief sometimes when I finally go inside for a minute or two!   Also when I'm home, they have their own box fan set up in the breezeway and that is a favorite spot in between 'working' jobs.

Ah, the bliss of a frozen treat on a hot summer night! 

I love my collie girls and now that they are finally getting a little more settled they are less work and more fun!  Well, except for all that hair.  Geez.  I'm slowly winning the battle on that this year. 

Hope you have a good week!

Happy Second Birthday Puppies!!

Minty as a pup

Two years ago today it was a very hectic and long day.  If you want to read the story, click  here.   Five little puppies were born--one little male did not make it, but four squalling girls did.  Two of the girls eventually went on to new homes of their own, but two of them stayed here to bless my life and keep me way busier than I expected.

Baby Minty learns the stairs--look at those big feet--no wonder she is a big girl!

Minty, my tri color, seriously serious, girl was not my first pick, or the second, third or fourth!  She was the least of the pups I was attached to....at first.  Then when Helen planned to come pick up the two tri girls to take them so their soon to be new owner could pick between them, I suddenly realized how much this little solemn puppy had wiggled into my heart.  I whispered in her ear to not be too friendly and maybe she could come back home!  And she wasn't.  She had some really shy actions when she was young (and still sometimes does) and so her sister went to a new home and she didn't.  Smart, and alert she is my watchdog.  Prone to worry and over-think she needs extra encouragement to try new things.  When she learns something new, she is tense and serious until she figures out she can do it and it's 'safe'.  Needing extra encouragement to meet new people she  loves them once she gets to know them.  I'm glad that this big mess of collie girl stayed here--it's been a joy.

Puppy handling a stray stick

My goodness, always a serious little girl! 

I still get this same expression when she comes for cuddles.

Beautiful Minty (who likes to pose by the way)

Minty exuberantly practices her recall

Minty the fluffy

I love this picture---it's not actually of the sheep---if you biggify you can see Ashley and four little pups walking the fence line.  Little squirts.

Then we have Carly.   Carly was not my first choice either...nor the second...maybe the third but only because my first choice had to go to another home.  But she was the one I was going to keep--my 'pick puppy'...then I got all attached to Minty too, and decided I couldn't live without both of them.  Did I mention it was an emotional time?  I was exhausted and I'd lost my dear Boone only weeks before their birth.   I justified keeping two by the fact that it would take two to even begin to fill the void left by the Boone!   So there we were.   My Carly is named after Carly Simon--for her blond mane, drama, and big mouth.  Carly was the last puppy born and is very mild mannered in that she doesn't let things bother her for long.  She is smart and very sassy.  Nothing phases her  and she is extremely mellow with her bossy sister.   But she always, and I mean always has a vocal opinion on everything and is a drama queen.  Putting on the leash and collars for Minty involves her coming up and sitting and looking very happy.  Putting the leash and collars on Carly involves her running around shouting at the top of her lungs--walk! walk!--jumping on the other dogs, trying to sit still, but twisting her head around the whole time.  She too has wormed her way into my heart and I am blessed with not one but two loving and loyal 'last pick'  puppies.   Different as night and day they are firmly bonded and best buds, even when they are beating each other up. 

Little sweet Carly...who knew the voice that lurks within?

My fluffy golden girl

A rare quiet moment

Love that face!

Trying to shred my scarf---setting the pattern of always up to something.

Carly and Ashley--momma's girl...

Carly always has a stick in her mouth and will rarely let me get a good picture of her!

 

 

Beautiful Carly

My three girls--to the end of the earth and back for a treat! l-r Ashley, Minty, Carly

Minty, Ashley & Carly--when Ashley was still bigger than her pups!

 

 

Is it a crow?  A squirrel?  Perhaps a monster?   l-r Minty, Ashley, Carly

Baby Buds

Big Baby Buds

 

Beautiful Ashley--happy face

And in wishing my two girls a happy birthday, I can't forget their 'real' mom, Ashley.  This girl loves her girls.  She plays with them, still gives them bathes, and will take 'em to the ground if she thinks they've done her wrong.  Ash has thrived being the matriarch of this little collie pack.   I've watched her become more relaxed and happy and content over the last few years.  Not any less passive aggressive though, ;-).  I am blessed that this silly girl came to fill a void left by Ariel years ago--to help soothe a big Dogue's sad heart and bring joy to our little farm again. 

Frank---Couldn't resist adding this picture of the puppies dad!

Family Affair--Frank, Minty, Carly & Ashley--just realized where Minty gets her solemn face from!  

Happy Birthday Girls!