[Blogging]

Nineteen years ago today was a snow day.  I know that because I was out taking pictures of the sheep for my very first blog post.  The two pictures I shared that day remain two of my very favorite pictures ever, but I've shared them many times over the anniversaries so this year I'm going to share another old favorite instead.  I believe I only have these beloved pictures because I started blogging...nineteen years ago.

So many old friends in this picture from February, 2015.  I wish Hank was mixed in there too, but I'm thinking that might be what Elizabeth, in the front, is looking at.  Don't miss Comby sitting on the fence.  It's all part of the puzzle.

Praying

 

It doesn't have to be 

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try to make it elaborate, this isn't

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.

Mary Oliver

Thank you for still being here and being my other voices.

 

Merry Christmas!

Every now and then I catch a little glimpse of white out in the field or a flash of orange in the garden and I hope we are all still here together under Hank and Maisie's watchful eyes, the bright stars and occasionally the northern lights.  I wonder if Maggie and Big Moose see them, too.

*  *  *  *  *

I couldn't fit every beloved ghost in the scene, but ghosts are fluid and other than Hank and Maisie watching out back and Salt and Comby out front, everyone else can be whoever we are missing the most and catch out of the corner of our eye.  Remember, they might be tucked in the barn or curled up in the Wool House.

I'd love to know who you see.  

Merry Christmas!

Oh, and it's a puzzle too :-).  

But First, This...

Before I share the weekend's pictures, I need to share information about Hug a Sheep Day...which is this Saturday!  But before I share that, I want to share a super interesting thing that happened yesterday.  I'll add some farm party info at the bottom of this post.

* * * * *

Do you remember the night before Hank died, Maisie standing out behind the barn, up on the hill, watching out back...and watching over me and Hank as we sat together one last time?  And do you remember Big Moose standing out with her?  Here's a link to a blog post that shares several IG posts and tells more of the story. 

If you want to watch the post dates, it looks like you'll have to click on each IG post picture in that post.  It's really interesting to watch everything develop.  The posts range from 2020 to 2021.  To be honest, I'd forgotten about this.

Yesterday the barn cameras picked up a fox messing around in the barn lot in the early hours of the morning, around 4:00 a.m.  As I watched I saw a sheep walk into the frame and get between the fox and the barn.  

The fox would make a move and the sheep would move to stay with it.  This dance went on for several minutes and finally the fox left.  The sheep stayed out there for a few minutes more before it went back into the barn.

I could tell it was a big sheep...with all black legs...maybe a clean (not wooly) head... Was it Murphy?  Maybe Levi?  It wouldn't be Muffin.  Big Moose?  The face looked solid black though, which was throwing me off.

As I watched, the sheep finally moved into a position that the barn lot camera spotlight caught a better look and sure enough there was some color on the face.  It was Big Moose...and that triggered the memory above.

Big Moose!

I recorded a short video clip of this and will go post it over to IG so I can then come back here to update this post.  I don't know how people keep up with how to use social media more efficiently, but there you have it.  Old people trying to use technology...  

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I just find this so interesting (the sheep/fox interaction, not the SM) and since most of you probably remember the history of Hank and Maisie and then Big Moose joining the security staff, I knew you would as well.  You know that fox was moving quietly.  Did Hank or Maisie wake Big Moose up to let him know or was he already watching, on duty.  Either scenario is comforting for sure.

* * * * *

Yes, there's a Hug a Sheep farm party this weekend.  I hope there are parties all over the world again like there have been the last few years.  I do love that part of social media - watching the #hugasheepday hashtag.  Here we are following the usual format with sheep hugging, cookie feeding, horse petting, picture taking, yarn fun, people treats, wool wearing...with one change.  

The hours this year are 12:00 to 3:00.  We've bumped everything up one hour so that anyone who would like to go over to the train run at The Heavenly Hilltop Railroad can caravan over and ride the amazing hand machined coal fired steam trains around 1 1/2 miles of track with an incredible tunnel and trestle and more good company.  There are also some sheep there, too ;-).

To The Moon And Back

It will be a surprise to no one that she didn't go down without a fight.  She'd started having trouble getting up and needed help a couple of times.  She didn't like that, but once she was up, she cheered back up and trucked on like normal.  Not normal Maisie, but normal for these last few months.

She wasn't able to walk around very much and no one was any longer in any real danger of being taken out in a side attack, but she'd still swing her head around to remind us and her teeth still worked just fine if she thought you were not scratching her back enough or being stingy with the cookies.

I had started watching her pretty closely on the barn cameras and noticed Saturday morning she was struggling to get up so I went out and helped her up.  It was 6:00 in the morning.  She didn't lay back down until 1:00 Sunday afternoon.  31 hours on her feet.  Not. Giving. Up.

I couldn't figure out if she was just scared to lay down or if her arthritis was just so bad that it hurt too much to lay down.  I let her decide what she wanted to do and even though I really wanted her to just  please take a nap, I didn't force it.  I'd have helped her get back up forever.

In the end I think she believed if she went down that it was all over.  And I think she was as disappointed as the rest of us that she didn't live forever.  When she finally laid down, she instantly fell asleep for good while and that brought me some peace watching her...like I'd watched her for so many years.

I sat down next to her and then leaned over and put my head next to hers and we laid there nose to nose, both afraid we'd never be able to get up again.  She snuggled into my hands and I'm not sure if she was looking for comfort or trying to comfort me.  She heard the vet pull in and I knew she knew and I could tell she was upset.  I'm not sure if she was scared or sad.  

The vet and I talked about how tough she had been her whole life while she gave her the first shot.  She was chewing on a mouthful of hay and then closed her eyes and went to sleep for the last time.  I held her head in my hands, stroking her face telling her how much she was loved while she got the second shot.  I hope when she woke up, there was a big white dog sniffing her, wagging his tail in greeting.  I hope she's not as gutted as I am.

This morning I walked outside in the pre-dawn to a brilliant rainbow around the full moon.  All the colors were there and so bright.  I went back inside for my camera, but couldn't capture it.  I'll  keep the colors in my memory.  My heart wants to believe it was a gift from over the rainbow bridge.

To end this on a more cheerful note, here's maybe my favorite Maisie memory.  There are so many great ones.  I'm not sure I ever wrote about it and I sure wish I'd taken some videos.  We can curse these crazy cell phones these days, but I'd give anything to have had a smart phone back in her baby days.

She lived in the house for months that first winter.  Once we got her eating issues straightened up and her legs growing in the right direction, she loved to run.  There's only so much some towels on a slick kitchen floor would help, so she was allowed to run all over the carpeted house to play and exercise.

Tim would sit on the couch with his arm hanging over the side and she'd come over and sniff his fingers.  Right when she'd almost touch them he'd make a buzz sound and she'd scream with lamb laughter and race away with her tail spinning...and come right back to do it again and again.  She loved that game.

At a neighborhood gathering once I admitted that "I've never loved anything as much as her...and I'm pretty fond of Tim."  The comment of course got back to him and he quickly replied that he already knew where he stood.  

We all loved her to the moon and back.  

Maisie

November 25, 2012 - September 7, 2025

We buried her on the hill next to Hank.  I thought about adding her angel costume, but ended up just making her a new pretty halo.  I told her she didn't have to wear it, but maybe should take it with her...just in case she needed it.  

Solstice Sheep Of The Day - Maggie

I almost blew it today.  I knew I'd taken some pictures of Maggie the other day, but when I opened them up this morning they were nothing I really wanted to use.  I'd planned to go out during the afternoon and take some new pictures...and the day got away from me.  

I thought about the possibility of getting a barn shot this evening, but knew that Maggie wouldn't be in the barn.  She very seldom is.  Ah, the beauty of this challenge...go try to take a picture of her in the dark.  If you can figure out a way to do that, it will tell a good story.

Maggie is a watcher.  I find these sheep interesting.  Maisie used to sit outside and then when she got older she'd sit just inside the door, watching and listening for trouble out back.  I always thought she learned that from Hank, but when I saw Maggie start doing that I realized it might be something more.

Maggie has slept out back since her first summer.  I found her exactly where I knew I would, right at the corner of the Del Boca Vista.  Occasionally Christopher will sit out there with her, but Maggie is the dedicated night watch.  

At some point she must move inside because I seldom find her still out there in the morning, but occasionally I do.  If it's been snowing during the night, she always has snow on her back so I know she's stayed out there for a good bit of time.

I think this is fascinating.

I think this will be a beautiful and challenging new puzzle.  Enjoy!

Oops, I almost forgot to share her favorite treat.  Maggie is a very shy treat taker so she doesn't always get a treat when the big sheep are being too rough.  I just snuck her a handful of alfalfa before anyone noticed.  Everyone loves the chopped alfalfa :-).

Weekend Wrap Up

I'm going to try something new.  I've actually been thinking about doing this for a couple of years, but apparently needed the FB debacle to push me to actually do it.  

The Plan - even if I do some blog posts throughout the week (the ideal situation), I'm going to try to do a Weekend Wrap Up post that picks some important IG posts and shares them over here and on FB.

I hate that there are so many good (frequently really good) memories stored over on IG that never make this searchable blog.  While I don't care much at all about FB, I do care about the people who follow me over there and who are now missing all the daily posts.

At some point maybe I'll figure out a way to fix the FB issue, but at this point, a few posts are hopefully better than no posts.

And while there is much of this past week that I'd like to forget, that's not how life and farming works, so without further ado...the first Weekend Wrap Up.

* * * * * 

I'd like to start off by saying thank you for all the kind comments, messages and notes about Blossom.  I knew that was going to hit a lot of us really hard.  I still can't believe she's gone, but I hope she's out grazing along the creek with Hank and dancing in the moonlight. 

If you'd have asked me last Saturday, I'd have said shearing went great.  It did, as far as shearing goes.  Once again, after weeks of really nice weather, we got hit with a horrible cold snap and honestly I think it was worse than last year because it was still blasting us with a miserable cold wind today, eight days later.

I am definitely not going to forget any of that because it's going to dictate how I schedule things next year.  In the meantime, let's remember everyone out grazing that afternoon, the last warm day, and enjoy seeing Biscuit and Muffin still grazing side by side just as they have done since they were lambs :-).

Here's a short flock walk from Monday evening:

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While I don't like the story behind this picture, I do like the picture.

Jared was miserably cold.  On Wednesday, he finally felt well enough to leave the barn and sneak out to get his special second breakfast.  I nearly cried.  He started improving every day after that and was almost back to normal this afternoon.

On a happier note, I heard the first Purple Martins chirruping Friday afternoon.  They'd have been happier a week or two ago when it was warm and there were bugs everywhere, but they'll be happy tomorrow when it warms back up.  

This was a screen capture using the Merlin Bird app.  If you aren't already familiar with that, check it out.  Big fun!

While it might appear that I've just been wandering around lost in the Alaskan wilderness, I am still working on my Iknitarod project.  We'll get there eventually.

* * * * *

Okay, this wasn't too hard and on a better week, might actually be pretty fun to put together and hopefully I'll do more than just hit the high spots.  There were more pictures on IG and some pictures that never even got shared over there, so maybe I'll do a couple of catch (further) up posts.

On to the new week!

Merry Christmas

I originally thought I'd stop painting the farm cards after the tenth year.  That was a nice round number and I was having trouble thinking of new "scenes" for upcoming years.  I shared that with some folks, probably at the Kentucky Wool Festival, and new ideas started coming in from all over...so I kept going.

I've enjoyed painting all of these cards.  It's been fun watching them progress over the years.  I invented the scenes and Tim came up with all of my favorite clever titles.  I'm not sure if we started adding text to the backs to explain the titles or maybe the design itself, but that became almost as much of the card as the fronts.

I'm so flattered when people tell me they save the cards each year and some even set them out as part of their holiday decorations.  Back in 2011 I was incredibly honored to be featured in an episode of one of our favorite tv shows, KET's Kentucky Life.  

I just went back and rewatched the story and am so grateful to have that sweet time capsule of Hank and all those good old sheep and horse friends.  I kept expecting to see Maisie and realized that she hasn't actually been here forever.  

I've made a lot of friends with these silly paintings, one in particular, a retired art teacher who I met through blogging and got up the courage to email to ask if she could help me figure out something I was struggling with. I know longer remember which year that was, but it was long ago at this point.  

I didn't have to call her for help with this year's card and I was sort of sad about that, but proud that I've learned enough from her over the years that I was able to pull it off mostly on my own. Thank you, Lori.  It's been a privilege to talk art and horses and life in general all these years.

Thank you also to another good artist and friend, Robin, who always helps bounce ideas around, especially when another artist friend who lives in Texas just laughs when I ask her a question about painting snow ;-).  It's always been a team effort, even down to the proof reading.  Thank you!

Going forward, I'm sure I'm still going to create a Christmas card each year, but I'm looking forward to trying some new ideas and techniques.  I can't imagine not sending out at least a few cards.  I sure enjoy receiving them.

Merry Christmas!

And The Verdict Is...

...well, it's a bit undetermined.  

As I scrolled through all of the photos from this year, Murphy was always in front except for the picture from the beginning of the year.  I knew I'd need to pull out the photos from 2022 to get a better idea, but I had a long 'to do' list that I needed to keep at...so I pulled out the photos from 2022.  That's how things are not done around here ;-).

There were a couple of pictures of Krista leading everyone out.  Oh right, I remember that.  Her kids were young and she wanted them out early, eating square meals so they'd grow up big and strong.  I really enjoyed watching her raise them up.  She was a Good Momma.  She still keeps an eye on them.

There were a couple pictures of Bea leading them out and another series of pictures of Archie leading them from atop the fence.  He mostly looks annoyed that they are following him though, so I'm not sure that was actually a leadership choice.

Here's a picture of Murphy in the lead.  I wish I'd written down the dates of each of these pictures.  I thought I'd remember.  

And from...okay, I'm going to go back and look for the dates...this was back in June (the rest were from fall).  Look who's in the lead :-).

It seems that maybe the girls used to go out first.  I'm not sure that was an actual leadership role or just being more efficient (cough cough ;-).  I really don't have a daily record of the flock going out because back in those days I wasn't locking them in the barn lot at night so I wasn't opening the gate each morning, watching them walk out.

Regardless, Murphy is obviously the solid leader these days, at least in the matters of food.  I wish I knew how that was determined.  I first thought it was his "I'm getting to all the food first" mentality, but that doesn't explain why they all wait on him when he's not there.  

Is it just routine now?  

I know from years of fighting with him over every style of gate latch and handle on this farm that IS he very smart.  Do they recognize that as well?  

Is he the bravest?  I'd probably put Krista at the top of that list now that Rocky and Jared aren't heading up security.  Boy, that was a great story, eh?  

Or is he just the pain in the butt they are all willing to sacrifice?  Just kidding, Murphy ;-).

I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them all walk out each morning this year.  I love thinking on what is going on with that.  While I sure miss the days when Hank was on duty and I never worried much about flock safety, watching the flock dynamics is a great trade off for walking out to open the gate each morning.

 

And One More Thing

"I'm just going to head out for awhile.  Don't wait up."

In my late night effort to not get a week behind on the SOTW I forgot to tell Baba's most unique behavior.  I'm not sure if I just raised her to be extra independent or if she would have turned out this way on her own, but on the rare occasion I leave the farm, I always have to leave a note for our farm sitter.

"If you find a sheep left all by itself in the barn when everyone else goes out to graze, this is normally a sign of trouble.  However, if the sheep is a fat, fluffy white one who also has a big black dot on one ear, that's just Baba...and she's most likely just fine."

Baba could not care less if everyone else has left her to go out to pasture.  If she's not hungry or is enjoying a particularly good nap, she's not going.  She also does not care if everyone is bedded down for the night in the cozy barn.  If she's hungry, she's going to go out and graze.  In the dark.  By herself.

She has always been this way.  Her favorite place to graze used to be down by the creek.  This could be due to fond memories of hanging out there in the evenings with me, Hank and Betsy when she was a lamb.  

I used to not worry about her doing that when Hank was alive.  Now I don't let her (or any other sheep) go down there at night.  When she moved herself into Easy Breezy this winter, she was happy to find she could now go out into the securely fenced yard all night if she wanted...until Rocky started having so much vision trouble.

Rocky stays out in Del Boca Vista during the day, but I bring him into Easy Breezy at night so he has some company and a warm, soft bed and can only get a little lost.  Jared really doesn't like being in DBV and prefers to be indoors.  He takes care of Rocky during the day so he gets to choose where they sleep at night ;-).

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Because I don't want Rocky to wander out the front barn doors at night and either get lost or tangled up in something he can't see, I've started putting gates up to keep everyone safe inside.  This is not making Baba happy.  

This is bothering her so much so that she and I had a big knock down drag out about it last night.  A literal knock down, drag out.  She kept trying to knock down the wooden gates or at least drag them out of the way so she could go where she wanted.  I felt a bit like I was trying to put a toddler to bed.

The incident reminded me that I'd missed sharing this trait in her SOTW post.  Putting the February end of the month photo compilation reminded me that I had a good picture of her at night.  And now typing it up here has reminded me that I forgot to post the month end on here as well. 

Two posts in one day, twice in a week. I wish I was just really ambitious and not just disorganized ;-).

My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

"It's me, Baba!  Actually my name is Blossom, but everyone calls me Baba or Babababa. I'm going to be 11 next month.  I've lived here since I was just a couple days old."

"This is one of my mom's favorite pictures of me."

"This is one of mine.  I jumped up on mom's camping cot when she moved me out to the barn and decided I wanted to sleep on a cot all the time.  I eventually got too big, but it was sure fun while it lasted."

Baba was a funny lamb.  She and Betsy were best friends and she loved Hank a lot too.  Blizzard ended up being her best sheep babysitter.  I'd forgotten about that.  She was always (and still is) a good napper.  The cot was the funniest thing though.  I think that cot lasted a couple of months out there!  

There are a bunch of good stories and pictures if you scroll back through.  You can either use the "Blossom" or "Baba" labels on the right hand side of the blog or jump back to the 2012 archives.  She got here in April.

Blossom is mostly Texel with some other breeds mixed in.  I've always loved her classic sheepy beauty.  She has produced an amazing amount of wool in her 11 years here.  Her wool is easy to process and spin and is a really good for beginning spinners.  I include it in every drop spindle kit.

She loves to watch what's going on around her...when she's awake.  There is an hysterical video of her on IG watching Archie playing in the straw when he was a kitten.  I'd love to include it here, but I'm tired and need to call it a night.  Maybe tomorrow.

How about a Jacob sheep for next week?  Any requests?

Major Sled Repair

Saturday started off cold, but turned nice by the afternoon.  I love sitting and knitting in the sun on cold days and my favorite spot is still the old Grahaminator.  20 decided to join me,  Archie jumped up and climbed into my knitting bag and then Zelda walked up the ramp.  Possum was sitting over on the water tank cover, Bea was just under our feet and the sheep were hanging around the barn lot.  

Since we were obviously now having a barn party, we called Auntie Reg.  I half jokingly told her that I hoped I didn't end up in the ER by falling through the very frail wooden stand.  There was one basically solid section in the top, right in the middle.  The two sides and the front corner were "spongy" at best.

The Grahaminator had been built in February of 2012 and had been designed to give Hank a safe place to eat without having to deal with Graham stealing his food.  Luckily Saint Tim built it pretty heavy duty, because I loved sitting up there too.  For the last year or so, when it really started to fall apart, he kept saying we needed to take it down.  So we did :-(.

And then we rebuilt it! :-D

I was able to find enough scrap lumber so we didn't need to buy a single board.  The new top was made from an old shearing board a friend had given me years ago.  They had stopped shearing their own sheep and I sure hope I don't have to start shearing ours, so I gave it a new job.  I think it will be happy. 

I was able to save the old end boards and several of the short boards.  They weren't in great shape, but with the new framework they were no longer structurally needed and I wanted to keep as many of the old boards as possible.  That's where the memories are stored!  Tim had left by this point ;-)

As I worked to fit the face pieces I looked over and saw Bea sitting up on the hill watching the sheep and I immediately thought of Hank.  Was it just because I was already thinking about him as we rebuilt his old "tree fort"...or was he still around, checking in.  That was one of his favorite spots to sit.

Everything was going well until the last two boards.  I'd decided to add a bottom board to cover up all the rotted ends and cut the front one just a hair too short.  I remembered from an earlier barn project that "Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and barn building," but if we've learned nothing from all the knitting rip outs...  It matches perfectly now ;-).

All it needs is a good coat of fence paint!  And maybe the old ramp, just for posterity...or the chickens.

Archie approved.

There are some great posts about the old Grahaminator.  You can follow this link if you'd like to remember some funny stuff.  I love this picture from 2017.  The good old days.  Hank and Comby were still here and the view was uninterrupted up the hill.  I love that I coincidentally took a picture with my old Crazy Creek chair, a new orange cat and the same knitting bag.  

The view from up top last night.  Click to biggify for sheep.

My Favorite Sheep...Of The Week

This week's Sheep of the Week is Spud, although as I scrolled back through all the old Spud posts, he was usually referred to as Sweet Spud.  

Spud arrived here in the summer of 2014 along with Murphy and Woody to be buddies for Baaxter.  They got into all sorts of fun that first year.  Besides normal teenage hijinks, they dressed up for Halloween and even had a Christmas party.  Do you remember the Spaceship?  He was one of the Spaceship sheep :-).

Spud earned Sweet Spud by, well, by being sweet.  He loved Hank and would always stop to visit with him and "close talk".  Hank never seemed to mind.  Spud would also check in with me almost every morning, lean into me for a sheep hug and we'd visit for a couple of minutes before he headed out for breakfast.  

My favorite Sweet Spud story however, is how he was one of the main Sheep Chicken sheep, helping the old hen up onto her perch each night.  My favorite of those posts was this video.  There are several pictures and a couple of videos of the sheep working to help that old hen.  I loved that.

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The picture up top was taken last winter.  It's the December picture on the 2023 calendar.  Salt was Miss December in 2022.  That calendar is still hanging in the wash room.  I can't bring myself to take it down.  I doubt I'll take 2023 down at the end of this year either.  I had to make the hard call this past week.  

Sweet Spud

Spring 2014 - February 13, 2023

He was one of the very best.