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Showing posts with label videos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label videos. Show all posts

Friday, March 20, 2026

Speaking Of Cats

I just added a cute picture of Bullseye to yesterday's post.  I'd saved it...and then promptly forgot about it.

On a crazy note, a video of Possum and Archie with a little bit of Bea went viral on Instagram last week.  Not millions of views viral (thank goodness), but as of this morning, 230,000 views.  

Leave it to Possum, the Murphy of the cat world here.

I think part of why this happened was a short poem by Carl Sandburg that begins "The fog comes on little cat feet."  I wasn't aware of that, so am happy I got something of value from the 318 (!) comments that the post received...most of which I don't believe were bots.  



Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Wishing For A Maisie Christmas


"Where the heck is Maisie?"


"Seriously?  I have to wear the hat this year?"

Saint Pinto

As I unpacked my Christmas decorations this year and pulled out the Santa hat I thought...all the thoughts.  Part of the fun of dressing Maisie up each year was how I believe she always enjoyed playing the part and we were all just her foils or fall guys.  Or maybe she was just sassy.


Too Cool Pinto is the king of annoyed looks and I thought it would be fun to get a picture of him looking annoyed with the hat on so I could write this blog post and try to make it sort of funny.  I had to really search through the shots for a picture where he looked even a little annoyed.  

I don't know if he understood that someone needed to step up this year or he was happy that he got to be recognized for being special.  Or most likely he understood someone needed to step up and he was happy that he was the one who was chosen.  He didn't mind the hat at all.  It was a bit of a let down.

Tomorrow night I'll do my normal Instagram Live Christmas Eve from the barn.  We won't wait until midnight even though it would be interesting to see if the animals talked.  We'll let them keep that secret.  

I'll go live on Instagram at 9:00 eastern time and we are usually on for about 20-30 minutes.  I will answer questions, show you your favorite sheep...  We'll share some cookies and crackers, too.  Bea will be with me and probably at least a cat or two.  If you can't join us then, I'll share it so you can watch later.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!




Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Bea Appreciation Post

(This picture was from over the weekend.)

I really miss having a Border Collie because they have just the best personalities, but I don't miss having the working farm dog aspect because I have Bea.  

Corgis were originally bred to be working farm dogs, but I'd always assumed that was so far back in their past that they'd been "dumbed down" into pets.  The two other corgis we've had were very nice dogs, but didn't really show a lot of interest in working on a sheep farm.

Even as a puppy I noticed Bea stepping up when she thought something wasn't going right in the barn.  At first I just chalked it up to dumb luck and being bossy, but it started dawning on me that she really understood who needed to be where, and when they weren't she wanted to put them right.

Over the years I've incorporated her help into several aspects, mostly penning sheep, but also rely on her letting me know when there are sheep (mostly Murphy) some place they shouldn't be.  I can tell at the house if there's a problem at the barn.

Over the weekend I got run over twice at feed time.  Murphy got past me on Saturday night and was so obnoxious that I ended up losing my cool and thumping him with a feed scoop (plastic, but I think if it had been concrete I wouldn't have cared at that moment).  Sunday morning Biscuit ran over me.  I ended up kicking him in his fat butt with my rubber boots (but wouldn't have cared if they were concrete either).

Both of those sheep outweigh me by double...at least.  Both are Cotswold crosses and let me just tell you, do not get between a Cotswold and some stolen food.  They are fearless and do not care.  Still, to have that much trouble in less than 12 hours...

What. The. [Heck]. Was. Going. On.?!?

Oh, wait.  It was super cold and Bea was in the Wool House.  I had no back up and those fatties knew it.  "LET'S GET HER!"  

The next morning Biscuit tried it again, but this time I had Bea with me.  I was ready and quickly moved myself and the oldies into the corner and yelled "Get him, Bea!" and Christmas came early for her :-D.  Biscuit was out of there in less than two seconds and didn't even come around that side the next morning.

Kate was a tactical herder and smart enough to not get hurt by occasionally taking the high road.  Bea is out there throwing concrete feed scoops and boots, nipping heels and barking like a maniac and I'm assuming using some grown up words because the sheep understand perfectly.  

This morning, as I rounded the corner to feed my skinnies, I found Biscuit in the stall waiting for me (stupid or greedy or most likely stupid and greedy).  I called Bea in...

I can't decide if the best part of this video from the barn cameras is Bea's sharp bark, Biscuit making a fast exit or me saying "We should have had that on video!"  Probably it's "Good job, Bea.  That was perfect."


Tuesday, December 2, 2025

November

Usually putting the month end compilation together reminds me that no matter how bad the month might have felt, there was actually a lot of good.  This month it reminded me what a crap fest the first 8 days were.

Do not be alarmed at the screen shot that will draw your eye to "deleting your blog".  It was actually the last line about "suicide prevention" that I was, sadly, not surprised to see on a suggested topics list.  The problem wasn't a blog issue, but it might have ruined the blog if it couldn't be fixed.  All is well now, thankfully.

As always, as I scrolled through pictures and videos, I was reminded of some beautiful sunrises, moonlight, flowers and bees surviving the extreme cold, sweet sheep, friends and cookie parties.  And somehow I'd forgotten about the Northern Lights.  Who on earth forgets about something like that!  

I'm glad I have these compilations.



Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Hug A Sheep Day Fun


The sheep started their day before dawn so I missed walking out in the back field with them and had to punt on the flock walk and ended up opening the arena to talk them into a second breakfast.  The arena is a big treat for them and they were happy to comply. 

Hopefully you can just click the above picture to watch if you'd like.


There were plenty of cookies and crackers and everyone mostly took turns trying to trick everyone into sneaking them an extra or two ;-).


After 15 years of farm parties that were too warm to wear a wool sweater, I knit not one, but two vests over the summer and fall in hopes of being able to wear a farm sweater to our farm party...and it was too cold.  I wore my Lamb Camp poncho for awhile, but was glad to switch to my B. Willard sweater to warm back up.


All the party pictures were taken by my friend Amy (more to come about that) except this one of Naughty Bea having to be carried up the driveway in a car so she didn't get run over by a car...


...and this sweet picture of Bullseye sleeping on the swing with his favorite party guest.  I tried to get a video of him swinging, but that was when Naughty Bea drove up and he woke up and jumped away.


Even the chickens got some cookies.  Zelda is in the middle of her fall molt so she needed the extra calories to help stay warm.




In the afternoon several of us headed over to the Heavenly Hilltop Railroad and rode the trains.  


It was the perfect way to end a really fun day.




 

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

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...  

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 ;-).


Monday, April 14, 2025

Hair Cut Day

I kept meaning to go out last week and take pictures of everyone while they were still in full fleece because as much as I love knowing my sheep are comfortable and cool, I miss tucking my hands in their long curly fleeces, so shearing is a little sad for me.  I also planned to take a bunch of pictures throughout shearing yesterday and didn't manage to get that pulled off either.  

I did take this quick picture of Krista and Maggie right before we were ready to start shearing and I love the two of them side by side.  Krista loved both of her lambs, but was always a bit sweeter on Christopher as a baby and I remember watching Maggie get just a tiny bit less attention and thinking about what would happen once they both grew up.  Christopher still hangs with the family, but Maggie is always the one right by her side.  

I did take some pictures of a neighbor's sheep as she was getting shorn and while you don't know or recognize this sheep, if you look behind her, you might recognize the orange and white kitty.  Bullseye stuck around for all the people showing up and the clamor of sheep moving and the first sheep being sheared before he decided it was a bit too noisy on the front line and moved onto the hay stack behind him.  He's come a long way and is just a darling kitten.

Thankfully I had the idea to set up my iPad to do a time lapse video throughout the afternoon and that worked really well and is a fun souvenir from a good day with my favorite sheep and friends.  


I realize some of you can't watch it without an IG account, but I don't know any way around that so just know that I'm sorry.  Maybe some day I'll try to get YouTube going, but at this point I'd just be happy if I could keep the blog current.  Hopefully now that the stress of shearing is over and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted, I'll get re-focused...pun intended.


Saturday, March 29, 2025

Spring Has Sprung

Well, that (springtime in Kentucky) escalated quickly!  Like it always does.  

Most people look forward to spring.  I'm more a of fall person, looking forward to the quiet of winter.  I haven't finished my Iknitarod vest yet, but I'm still working on it.  I stopped to knit a small sweater for a chilly new sheep friend (not at bottle lamb...sorry) who I'll introduce maybe tomorrow.  I have garden news to share.  An exciting new fiber tool.  Plans for the summer.

Just not enough hours in the day, even though the days are getting longer.

Sigh...


 

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