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Friday, December 9, 2011

O Tannen-baaa-m

Remember the picture of Betsy getting ready to jump into the bush to try and catch a bird? Funny thing about that, that's what she's doing in the Christmas card this year!





While you will probably never actually find Iris and the sheep all knitting Hank a warm sweater or everyone out skating or sledding in the snow (in reality they mostly just stand lay around in the barn yelling for me to bring them more hay ;-), Betsy catching a bird? Let's just say the "neighbor kid" watches his backside pretty carefully nowadays.

Besides the obvious - Iris being in charge of the decorations, Graham Lamb fooling around with electricity, Marcel letting Hank climb on his back to reach a higher branch and naughty Willard racing around carrying an ornament, here are a few little tidbits you might not have noticed on the card this year. The "rest of the story" as they say.
  • After a couple games of sheep bowling this fall, Hank is keeping a sharp eye on Hickory.

  • Last year I made Renny ornaments for all the people who came out and helped me take care of her. This year she's hanging her own ornament on the tree.

  • Comby's hanging up a Green Bay Packers ornament. That little touch was especially for Janbaby...a Bears fan. It's the little things ;-).

Saint Tim and I enjoy coming up with a new Christmas card each year. It's become a fun (after it's finished ;-) tradition, not only for us, but surprisingly also for a number of folks who collect each new card. I'm flattered, albeit a bit bewildered.

Equally flattering (and bewildering) is that we caught the attention of Kentucky Educational Television (KET) and are going to be part of their Christmas special this year. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm hopeful they are mostly featuring the farm and the Christmas card's "cast of characters" and not much of my hillbilly yammering. It airs locally on December 17th at 8:00 and will post to their website a few days after that.

I have a feeling it might be a Merry Interesting Christmas :-o.

*****

Random.org picked #7 Aaron as the calendar winner. Aaron, drop me an email with your mailing address :-).

Giveaways are fun - let's do another one! Leave a comment with your favorite holiday tradition and we'll draw again - this time for a box of Christmas cards.

Merry Christmas!

21 comments:

Susan said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is baking gingerbread men with my mother. She's 88 this year and I do most of the work - she puts in the clove eyes - but we put on holiday music and talk about our good Christmas memories. It's my favorite day.

Michelle said...

Well, that just goes to show that KET knows a good thing when they hear about it! Woot for Equinox Farm; hope I can watch it on their website!

And since New Year's is part of the holidays (right?), I'd have to say that my very favorite holiday tradition is starting out the new year on the back of my horse - even if it's just sitting on his back in the stall.

Anonymous said...

I do counted cross stitch for relaxation and realized one year that I kept very little of it (family, friends, charity). So I started a tradition that on Christmas day I start a project that is for me. Hmmm... guess I should go through the stash and decide on one.

Jean -MN

Kim said...

My favorite holiday tradition is getting a Reed & Barton silver plated Holly Bell and adding it to the tree. Each year's bell is different and engraved with that year. I reminisce about each year as I polish them and we put them on the tree. My husband and I were gifted the first bell the year we were married. We agreed then that no matter what was purchased through the years the bell would always be priority. One year it was the only gift we shared. This year we will have 23 lovely silver bells hanging on our tree!

Cloverleaf Art and Fibre said...

Some quiet evening over the holidays I will watch the movie "Into the West" set in Ireland, starring Gabriel Byrne, two incredibly cute kids, and a wonderful white horse. It has nothing to do with the season but for me it is magical.
For various reasons I haven't ridden much the last few years. I am going to try adopting Michelle's New Year's tradition and see if that gets me back in the saddle!

Lori Skoog said...

Sara! Sara! I love your Christmas Card and your music too! I intend to steal some of it as you have great taste...ok????

My favorite Christmas tradition is inviting people over for Christmas Eve. People who don't have family or a place to be that night. A pot luck supper, jeans, and a big fire.

Kim's silver bell collection sounds like a good idea to me.

Alice said...

Clever card with caption and character(s).

"Their gentle spirit teaches us.
That peace and love shall ever be
As faithful as a Christmas Tree.
....How lovely are your branches. “


Baking cutout sugar cookies and decorating them has always been a favorite next to eating them!

Claire the Shepherdess said...

Always love your cards, and especially love Renny hanging her own ornament. What a wonderful way of capturing all those personalities (sheeponalities?) in one place!

Gayle said...

Funny...I was just reading a really nice post about a mom who had all this wonderful traditions, some fun, some serious, for her kids as they grew. It made me sad that I never got around to doing the same with my own kids. I guess the only thing I do the same each year is put a plastic angel ornament on the tree. I've been putting out that same ornament since I was a little girl. I always thought she was special...fragile wax. It wasn't until a couple years ago I realized she was plastic. (I guess I'm a little slow). But it's my tradition so it's all good.

Shirley said...

Love your card, it really does have it's own story.
I have a few traditions that I love, but my favorite is going to Mass on Christmas eve, and truly enjoying the reason for the season.

Nancy K. said...

I think it's very nice that you and Saint Tim work on the Christmas card designs together! I bet that would be a fun conversation to sit in on...

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is a selfish one: I always buy a bottle of "Bailey's Irish Cream" for the women and ONLY the women, to drink during our family's Christmas Eve get-together. The men can bring their own drinks but the gals get the Bailey's...

Christine said...

I love it. I wondered who that was being chased in the background. LOL

My favorite holiday tradition is the Swedish toast with apricot brandy my family does on Chrismas Eve. Not that I'm a drinker mind you, it's just the last traditional Swedish thing left, the rest of Christmas has become a commercialized American mess.

God Jul!

Terry and Linda said...

I collect your cards AND I Frame them and bring them out every year for the holidays!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

Sharmayne said...

Christmas day can get pretty hot here in Australia, but we still have the roast lunch - only we cook it outside in the Weber! Yep, every year & it's great when it's sweltering!

Jan baby said...

Just received the card today. I thought I had scrutinized it but not good enough. I thought I hid that Packers ornament! Anyway, one of my favorite traditions is putting pinecone birdseed ornaments on Grandma and Grandpa's prairie path trees. love ya, kid

gowestferalwoman said...

oh my gosh - i hope you got all the "brown" out of the house - OOOOO TV CAMERAS!!!!! did you tell the animals yet? Maybe you shouldnt - they might start clamoring for airtime, makeup artists and their own room with a star on it!! Congrats - let us know if it makes youtube or maybe you can post a link?

Love the card - and those sheep legs ;) you ARE a talented woman!

small farm girl said...

Ohhhhhh! Your going to be the next Paris Hilton being on t.v. and all. Can I have an autograph? lol.
My favorite tradition is getting together Christmas even and opening the smallest gift. Me and my sister still look forward to it like we are still little girls. (A long, LONG time ago.)

janna Edrington said...

My favorite is taking my kids to my mother's to bake and decorate cut out cookies-just like my mom used to take me and my sister to my grandmother's.

Benita said...

Since I've been reading your blog less than a year, this is my first experience with your Christmas cards, and I love this year's. I love the characters and the story it tells. You are a very talented woman.

Becky said...

Yippee! A chance to win a box of your Christmas cards!

My mom and I have a tradition that we each have to try a new recipe for Christmas dinner. It can be anything from appetizer to dessert but it has to be for the first time (no test runs beforehand!). We have quite a few stories from some good and some not so good. :->

CharlieDog said...

My favorite Christmas tradition is trying (very hard) to get everyone (pets included!) In front of the tree for Christmas pictures!

Its usually loud, long and frustrating but always fun. :)