A Wool(ish) House

I found a super sweet bird nest the other day.  It had blown down during a wind storm.  I love all bird nests, but this one is extra special because of all the wool in it. Buddy and/or Woolliam, Petunia and/or Daniel and Chocula, Salt and/or Hank and probably some others as well.  Here's a quick tour:

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A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady)

Thank you for all the calendar orders! I hope you know how much that is appreciated.  They are still "at the printers" waiting to be assembled, but luckily Tim's been busy this month.  That's appreciated as well ;-).

Some neighborhood news - there appears to be another stray cat hanging around.  Both my neighbor and I have been blaming the sightings on each other's calico cats and two days ago I broke up a fight next door in which "Betsy" took off running towards our farm...but then I found the real Betsy asleep in the house.  "Betsy's Stunt Double" was spotted between the two farms again last night.

Four bossy calico cats in one area is probably going to make for a long winter.  Why couldn't it have been a sweet orange kitty :-(.  Sigh...

Our 15 Minutes Of [Snow]

We enjoyed it while it lasted :-).

Mini Moose and Chocula

Big J aka Jared

The little darlin' ;-).  And I think that's Mini Moose.

Big Moose.  He's just so fun to photograph.  What expression.  

Chocula, Tessa and Tabitha.  Chocula was picking hay of Tessa's back.  I'll have to up his pay :-).

Liddle

Petunia and Tessa

And a new puzzle!

Peeking In

Several times a day I go peek in on everyone to make sure all is well in the barn.  This is one of my favorite things to do, especially on a sunny, but chilly "winter" day.  As I quietly walked down the barn aisle I noticed Maisie cashed out (one of my most favorite sights) so I quietly walked out, grabbed my camera and snuck back in.

The little darlin'.

Jared, aka Big J, soaking up some sun.

I seldom catch Kaala asleep.  She's always "busy".

Petunia, with Tavia and Clover Belly on the left.

Andy

Rebecca Boone, for the first time looking like she might be happy(ish) moved into Easy Breezy.  I've been trying for several days to get her settled in there.  A Cotswold with an opinion... ;-).

Good afternoon!

Daniel And His Bell

Let me tell you a story about Daniel.  Don't worry - it's a sweet story with a happy ending :-).  

Daniel is one of our more complicated sheep.  Not "Maisie complicated", but complicated more like an easy going middle child who doesn't demand special attention...but sure would enjoy a little...if someone would just notice him.

Daniel doesn't follow me around, pushing and shoving for back scratches or treats.  He doesn't climb on me or the gate, not letting me through with the hay.  In fact, Daniel is never underfoot.  Daniel is always well behaved and polite...and overshadowed by his rowdy brothers and sisters.

I am aware of this and mostly make sure I've said hello and rubbed his ears and asked him how his day was, but sometimes life gets extra busy and while I always make sure everyone is well fed and in good order, I may not think to take an extra minute to check in more personally with a sheep like Daniel.

When this happens, inevitably Daniel gets "sick"...which immediately gets my notice.  He looks droopy and sad and Eeyore-ish and I check his eyes, his ears, I rub his neck and shoulders and we have a talk about what might be the matter...and if he needs to have his temperature taken.  He never does ;-).

I really don't think he's deliberately faking being sick to get my attention.  I think his feelings are truly hurt and he's a tad depressed and therefore actually "sick".  Luckily a little special attention and some extra nose smooches perk him right up.

Petunia had gotten a small nick on her neck during shearing last week.  Over the weekend I noticed that her collar and bell had aggravated the spot and was not letting it heal properly.  I immediately removed the collar and as I was getting ready to set it on the ground so I could get a better look at her neck, I notice Daniel standing nearby, watching.

"Would you like to wear Petunia's bell for awhile?" I asked. 

I placed the collar around his neck.  He stood still and didn't seem to be at all concerned.  I fastened one side of the buckle and let it hang for a second, ready to remove it if he got upset. Some sheep really don't like the bells.  He moved his head a bit..and the bell tinkled...and special Daniel stood a little bit taller :-).    

Good Company

The sunshine this morning was lovely. Everyone stayed out (and laid out) and enjoyed it for a good while.  It's gone now and guess what?  We have 2-4" of rain predicted for this week, starting this afternoon.  Unbelievable.  

Being locked out of the front field has created a "desperate situation" with the "hungry" flock.  Luckily the old timers have Rocky and Jared to lead them back to greener pastures.  It's great to see them grazing less trafficked areas.

I have some more good Hank pictures for tomorrow and there are two new puzzles from this group :-).  Enjoy!

Fine Fall Day

We've had a couple stunner days this week.  Twice I sat down out in the barn and just enjoyed it.  Both days Muffin laid down, curled up next to me.  Treasured memories for sure.

"Spend the afternoon.  You can't take it with you."  Annie Dillard

Rebecca Boone

Tavia

Burrnie

Spud

The little darlin' ;-)

Pretty Petunia

Just Like Fireflies

Actually, not really very much like fireflies...but they did appear to glow in the setting sun.  I didn't get a great picture of all of them floating around, but I do like this picture of Petunia and Renny grazing together with Buddy looking on.   Might be a fun puzzle :-).

Sunlight

I had big plans to do a New Year's Day post and even took some project pictures throughout the day, but I just don't have the gumption to put that together this evening.  I'll give it a try again tomorrow.  

One of my "goals" for the new year is on days when I can't pull together a full blog to at least post some pictures, sort of Wordless Wednesday style.  Writing blog posts takes energy, clarity and concentration, all frequently on short supply by the time I sit down in the evening.  Pictures can tell stories...and if they can't, you can have fun making one up :-D.

The morning sun was lovely.  Cold, but lovely.  We are headed down to zero tonight, but I'll take that over -31 any day.  Stay warm out there!  And enjoy some pictures from the barn this morning.

Blossom

Baaxter

Beanie Baby and friends

Petunia

Don't do it, Muffin!  (click to biggify ;-)

"What?"

Hank and Murphy

Gotta love a June photobomb ;-).

Christmas Stills

Petunia

Liddy

Mrs. Pepperpot

"I heard there would be cookies."

Hershey

Thelma and Tara

Woolliam

Bullwinkle

PPPP and Renny

Baaxter

"Where are the cookies, lady!"

We actually had a Christmas cracker party...and I tricked Maisie into eating one.  I made sure I was out of there before midnight so I didn't have to listen to what she probably had to say ;-).

Merry Christmas!

Nailed It!

In case you aren't following on Instagram, Twitter or, sigh, Facebook, I finally caught a perfect video of the sheep working together to help the Sheep Chicken get to her perch last night!

Got it! Irrefutable evidence of the sheep deliberately working together, moving around to help the Sheep Chicken get to her nighttime perch. She starts on Daniel. Spud comes over and picks her up. He doesn’t get close enough so Petunia moves him over while Clover Belly watches or maybe is directing traffic and then she moves around to the far side. Wool is wellness...and also kindness 😊. I’m going to include this for Wovember because if we are sharing all the great attributes of sheep and wool, it would be hard to find better sheep representatives🐑🐑🐓🐑🐑. #wovember2017 #wovemberinstachallenge #wearwoolforwovember #wearwooleveryday #woolprovidestraction

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Nov 6, 2017 at 3:14pm PST

:-D

Not A Saint But Close

Here is a video from this evening.  The Sheep Chicken was already on Clover Belly's back and Clover Belly was already positioned over by the ledge when I saw them and started the camera.  Petunia comes over to help and then Ewen McTeagle.  Petunia leaves for a few seconds to go yell at June, who you can see calmly walking through not deserving anyone stamping their foot at them, Petunia!

The chicken knows Clover Belly is too short, which is why she moved to Ewen, but Ewen wouldn't move over to the ledge so she finally gave up and used Petunia, who'd come back to help, to get back to Clover Belly and she makes the jump...which was an "epic fail".  She then jumped back up on Rebecca Boone, who is only marginally taller, and I picked her up and set her on the ledge.

The black and white hen, most famous for sitting in the Wool House with me and Tilly this summer has also decided she wants to sleep on the ledge, but she's an ungrateful guest and picks on The Sheep Chicken if you try to set them both up there.  That's not fair so we built her her own private shelf.

Speaking of sheep yelling at June for no reason, that's why Clover Belly is Not Quite A Saint.  I have no idea why she hates her so much, but she's given June some charges that are very ungrateful.  I'm not sure what to do about that.  I keep hoping they'll work out a truce, but Clover Belly has her buffaloed and June doesn't have Kate's "I give you permission to punch that bad sheep back" button.

Sheep... 

Chickens...

I could also add a story about the stupid corgi, but it's late...

Aren't you looking forward to spending the afternoon with everyone this Saturday?  ;-).

Some Sunday Sunrise Sheep Shots

Note the Ts running across the top of the field.

Annabelly coming up to say "Happy Birthday!"

Three old timers.  Too many birthdays!

Baaxter and Chocula getting ready to have less birthdays.  All that nice grass and you are eating grass covered in fence paint over spray?!?

Pretty Petunia.

All the fences and barns have been freshly painted.  The over spray makes this look like I photoshopped the  paint on there.

I'm not sure what is going on in this pictures.  Obviously Woolliam doesn't have a clue either or else he's just decided to sleep through whatever those two girls are having words about.  Baby Belly and Annabelly.

Three new puzzles up. 

Enjoy!