Well...

Well.  

So I've tried to find the inspiration to post a blog.  I've even gone out on three occasions and taken some good pictures specifically for the blog.  I write "BLOG!" on my daily To Do list.  I don't know.  

I've kept the Instagram feed going, which has been nice.  Sharing pictures and videos of the normal craziness of the farm is a respite for sure.  The ups and downs of the 2020 Iknitarod - no, I didn't finish...yet.  Rebecca Boone getting sick again...and now doing better again.  Frankie and Lancelot rolling in the mud.  Billy Belly sleeping with his head on Woolliam's back.

Billy Belly.  Billy Belly flew under the radar here for years, just another one of those crazy Jacobs who, while they might sneak up and take a cookie from you, really didn't want any other sort of attention.  He was probably 10 years old before I realized that whenever something was wrong with someone, Billy Belly was always there.

As Renny lay with her head in my lap that last morning, Billy Belly stood next to her.  He looked at her and then turned and looked at me.  I hope he wasn't looking for me to do something to help her and was disappointed that I couldn't.  Hopefully it was a look of understanding.  Maybe it was nothing more than a look.

I wish I could explain "looking".  I think about it a lot.  Cheeto lives here because she looked at me several years ago.  She still looks at me.  Lancelot looks at me in a way Frankie does not, even though Frankie does look at me all the time.  I never walk into the barn when I don't lock eyes with Maisie.  Everyone watches me, but only a few actually look at me.

Billy Belly is the sheep looking at me.

He was the caretaker of the flock, especially the old sheep.  

I'm glad I took these pictures last week.  He got down the other day and couldn't get up on his own.  I was able to help him up the first day and he could then get around.  The second day he could no longer stand on his own...and he was completely over me trying to help.  He was older than the blog.  To the best of my recollection he'd have been 15 next month.

I hope everyone is okay.  I really don't have any words...but I can share pictures.  And a new puzzle.

The 2020 Iknitarod

I'm starting this post with my 2020 Ravatar because if I led with the picture of the actual project, everyone would just pass on by because you've seen this yarn so. many. times.  

For the 2020 Iknitarod...I am knitting the Renny sweater!  

I think about the Iknitarod off and on all year long and some time ago I picked this sweet gray dog to be my Iknitarider.  I had originally planned to spin and knit a Jared sweater and have been tossing patterns around for months.  I could never settle on one though and I kept feeling bad about never knitting the Renny sweater and when it dawned on me that Charcoal had something in common with Renny, I knew what I was going to do.

"Are you sure?  That is a LOT of color!" ;-)

Like many animals on our farm, Charcoal was a rescue.  In his early life he had worked hard in a grade school classroom.  So hard that he ended up with a patch on his backside, just like Renny :-).  When his teacher retired, she took him home with her and kept him until she found a new home for him...and he eventually ended up with me.

With the dog connection to Renny - the bad dogs who caused her to end up here in the first place and the good dogs who took care of her for the rest of her life - and how old those dogs have all become, this year the dogs are center stage, along with Comby, who is a close to a dog as a cat can get :-).  And of course Renny is there, too, up in the stars.

I am knitting the Icelandic Star pattern.  The pattern is written as a bottom up sweater.  It's written to be knitted flat, back and forth, not around and around to then be steeked.  If you remember waaaay back, learning to do a steek was one of the original goals for the original Renny sweater.  I'd link all those old posts here, but even I don't want to revisit them (and I'm hungry and want to go eat lunch ;-).  

I have converted the pattern to be knit in the round.  I am worried about running out of yarn, so I've also converted it to be knit top down.  And, just to throw in one more challenge, I am between sizes so I've done the math to create my own personal size.  What could go wrong... ;-D.

*   *   *   *   *

As always, I encourage you to follow along with the actual race at www.iditarod.com.  The Insider coverage is fantastic!  I'll be posting my usual daily Iknitarod updates on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and the Iknitarod group is in full swing and we have several on the scene "reporters".  

Fiberuary Day Three - Knit In 2019

I'm trying to do I am doing the February fiber challenge Fiberuary again this year.  I enjoy these month long challenges because a. I like a fun challenge and b. I frequently think about things I wouldn't normally and sometimes learn something new either about myself or my craft.  I've also made some great friends following other posts.

Yesterday's challenge was "Knit in 2019".  The obvious first thought was the epic Muffin and Pepperpot sweater. I've used that for a several posts already though, but the only other thing I could think of was a teddy bear sweater I knit over the Christmas season.  I stewed on it off and on all day while caring for a sick sheep and just couldn't get enthused.  

And then it hit me.  I did have another 2019 knit that I hadn't already over-shared.  The Rebecca Boone cape.  The cape I really enjoyed dyeing the yarn for and knitting. The cape I sent off to the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival and won a blue ribbon with.  The cape I...had still never even tried on. 

I don't know why I hadn't.  Maybe because I was afraid it wouldn't fit or I'd look stupid in a cape and I would no longer love it the way I did.  I know I'd hoped to wear it during the Kentucky Wool Festival or for the Rhinebeck Blues party, but both events were too warm.  I didn't worry about it though because I knew I had plenty of time...until I didn't.

The sick sheep I'm caring for is Rebecca Boone and she is very sick.  I had hoped it was "just" pneumonia due to the crazy weather, but is most likely a heart problem that has now developed into pneumonia.  The vet was back out this morning and we are trying one more thing, but I don't have a lot of hope.  One thing I can say about Cotswolds though is they don't go down without a fight and she is still fighting. 

So as I sat in the truck where I could watch her without bothering her (she is quite over being doctored) I beat myself up for forgetting to do a "dressed alike" photo shoot with her.  Then I added in never making the Ewen mittens and the PPPP sweater or Renny's steeked flower sweater and...

The only one of those I could maybe fix was Rebecca Boone.  I decided to try and called my neighbor to see if she could come over and take a couple quick pictures while I sat down with her in the barn...and I went in to get the cape...that fit perfectly and I now loved even more.

I had hoped she'd just keep laying down and I could crouch down next to her without bothering her too much, but she saw both of us coming and made a run for the door.  I quickly grabbed a bag of cookies in hopes that would stop her and it did and she even ate two for me while Jennifer quickly snapped a few pictures.  We then hightailed it out and let her go back to bed.

Jennifer got several pictures that most people would think looked fine, but as I know the sheep (and the shepherd) I look at them and mostly see a sick sheep and a sad shepherd...who is wearing a lovely cape she made from the wool of one of her very favorite sheep.  I hope we get another chance to re-take these pictures.

The Willard Pillow

Billy Belly has always loved sleeping on a pillow.  I thought it was just him, but in searching for that 2007 picture, I found quite a few of Emily, his momma, sleeping on her last lamb, Casper Belly.  I'm trying to remember who he used to sleep on before he moved to Easy Breezy...ah, it was Boudreaux!  That's right.  Good old blog :-).

He frequently snuggled up with Renny, even in the summer.  I'm glad he has B. Willard now.  If I had to pick a wool pillow...it would definitely be Willard.  Good old B. Willard :-).

A sheep of (mostly) Impeccable Character ;-).

It's Wovember Again Already?!?

Yes. Yes, it is.

Good grief.

Today, being November 4th, is Day 4 and the prompt is "Wool in color".  My first thought was to post a picture of some Jacob roving and praise the color GRAY...but then I remembered I actually had a colored wool project started that needed a blog post.

I thought it might be fun to show the two original GRAY colors that were then overdyed to make Not Gray colors.  I used the rocks around the blanket flowers as my setting since the flowers have a nice "fall" feel to them...

...and then I noticed that if I tweaked a couple of the unused colors (yellow and burgandy) I could almost match the flower colors...

I think the obvious tweak on the yellow is just to add a little orange.  The burgandy...I'm not so sure I can change enough...but I think I'm going to try...and if it works...and I like it better than the current colors...

Hey, it wouldn't be a knitting project if it didn't hit the frog pond at least once ;-).

Renny

I've lost track of how many times I thought I'd be writing these words.  So many times that now that I'm actually having to write it...I don't know what to say.  

Renny probably should have died before she ever hit that muddy pond years ago.  She should have died in the pond.  She should have died at the animal shelter.  She should have died at the vet clinic.  She probably should have died even after she got to our farm.  There was never a tougher sheep.

I think she must have had a huge heart.  And a lion's share of courage.  So many of us worked together to care for her as she saved herself and I know none of us will ever be the same.   I know I never thought I'd be able to do the things I had to do to care for her in those early days. Roar!

I hope anyone who didn't know Renny will stumble across her for years to come and learn from her that we can live through and do way more than we think we can.  That if you can just hold on a little longer, you might get pulled out from the mud, your wounded legs heal and the rest of your life be spent surrounded by friends.

Renny had been declining all summer.  I knew it was coming.  Her body was worn out.  Still, I was not prepared for her collapse yesterday morning.  As I sat with her, her head on my lap, both PPPP and Billy Belly came over to see her.  They knew what was coming as well.

It will be okay...eventually.

If you need to stumble across Renny's story, here are a few links.

http://myfavoritesheep.blogspot.com/2010/11/if-there-was-ever-sheep-that-deserved.html

http://myfavoritesheep.blogspot.com/2010/11/renny.html

http://myfavoritesheep.blogspot.com/2011/11/happy-birthday-renny.html

Blooms

It's been a week (since I last posted) and it's been a week.  We're all okay, basically, but the summer has taken a toll on everyone around here...except maybe Saint Tim...who's a summer loving freak...and that's all I'm saying about that...freak ;-).

Hank has had issues with the heat and also has an ulcerated lesion on one elbow that doesn't want to heal.  Salt ended up with an abscess on a foot that is slowly healing.  Tilly still has her ongoing band aid butt.  Renny got an infected hair follicle that had to be lanced.  Big Moose got a cough that needed doctoring and now Frankie's got a hitch in his get-along.  I'm getting a hitch in my get-along just trying to doctor on everyone :-o.

So it's raining AND pouring...but not actually rain...which we could use.  So how about some pictures of some of my birds, bees and butterfly plants?

Sunflowers.

Pink buckwheat.

White buckwheat - flowers and grains.

Milkweed mixed in with the white and pink buckwheat.

These are the short sunflowers.  Somehow I got some packets that were supposed to 12' and 15' feet tall.  These are the 12's, but they are probably only 10' tall. 

The 15's are probably 12' but still a pretty darn tall plant and kind of fun.

I planted milkweed, dill and parsley for monarchs and swallowtails.  The birds and the wasps are getting them all :-(.

I guess I should start bringing them in to the safety of the porch when I find them, but honestly...I'm maxed out right now...and I feel bad about that...on top of everything else.  Maybe things will settle down this week.

A friend posted on IG that every day there is "one less day of summer".  We (except Saint Tim) are feebly counting it down to ZERO.

Golden Oldies

My original paragraph started by stating "Renny is the youngest sheep in the Golden Oldies group...", but I wanted to make sure about Rebecca Boone and then started checking everyone and, yikes, time has flown.  

PPPP is 14, Ewen is 12, Billy Belly is 14, Rebecca Boone is 11, Woolliam is 11.  At 10, Renny is not the youngest sheep.  That would be B. Willard, who is just 9.

(!)

Ewen McTeagle.  It seems like just yesterday you were terrorizing the cat food on the back porch. 

There's a new puzzle :-).

Gone To The Birds

"This place has completely gone to the birds."

In "25 words or less" I've been watching out for two barn swallow fledglings that left the nest too early and ended up on the barn floor and driveway.  Yesterday was a day of learning.  Today I felt like I had things much more under control.  Crazy birds.

I couldn't get to their actual nest to try to stick them back in.  It's somewhere above the roll up door.  Turns out both babies and parents seem to prefer this much roomier basket.  The babies had "so much more room for activities", the parents swooped in and out feeding them, sometimes perching on the handle and even carried droppings out to keep it clean.  

When the shade ran out this afternoon I tried to move the basket into the barn and the older fledgling flew away.  The younger one should be gone tomorrow.  In the meantime, I'm kind of enjoying having them around.

Feeding

Practicing

P.S. This is one of my better baskets, not one I'd normally use to hold something messy like baby birds.  However, I couldn't get to my more everyday baskets in the garage because a Carolina wren has nested on the basket shelf, yes, using one of my baskets.

Tough Old Ladies

We hit -1 around 6:00 a.m.  We've had colder nights over the years, but not with so many elderly sheep, cats, dogs and chickens.  The wind during the day yesterday was brutal, but thankfully it died down in the evening and the 10:00 barn check wasn't bad at all.  There is a fun video over on Instagram, but it will only stay up for 24 hours :-(.

I'd put up heavy plastic on the west side of Easy Breezy and closed their door.  That helped a bunch with the wind and I did several hay feedings throughout the day.  Allie is going to be 15 this spring and is horribly thin.  Even though she assured me she was Just Fine Thank You, I felt better putting a coat on her.  

Does it look familiar?  

 

Remember dear old Miss Ewenice taking such good care of new arrival Renny?  Remember Renny's story?  Well, only newer readers won't remember her story.  

Hard to believe Renny is in the Easy Breezy pen now.  Not that she's exceptionally old and definitely not because she's thin, but because the other side of the barn all slopes downhill and her injured legs are starting to give her some trouble.  EB walks out onto a flat paddock.

When I put her old blanket on Allie I wondered what she would think.  Would she remember it?  She didn't.  She was scared of it.  Or of Allie wearing it.  None of the other sheep cared.  I wonder if they remembered seeing that blanket years ago?  Renny wouldn't have actually seen it, wearing it...

Speaking of blasts from the past, Allie is one of Elizabeth's daughters, from well before the blog.  Her sister Amy is still living as well, over at the original Crazy Sheep Lady's farm and she, too, is wearing a coat this winter.  

All those tough old ladies :-).

Oldies But Goodies

I think I've talked about "Easy Breezy" on the blog, but in case I haven't, it's the bigger version of Del Boca Vista, utilizing the end of the outside stall and the level paddock next to the barn.  DBV is perfect for a couple sheep, but when the population as a whole starts getting older, more and more sheep needed to move into "assisted living" this fall.

Silly Lila, one of my very favorite bottle lambs from quite a few years ago.  She's not exceptionally old, but she has some arthritis issues that make it hard for her to keep up with the younger sheep.

Popcorn PeePee Pants.  Her birthday is in January, but I don't remember the exact day.  I'd look it up on the blog...but she's older than the blog!  She will be 14 next month.  

PPPP is the lamb on the bookmarks we hand out in the festival booths :-).  She makes a nice puzzle, too ;-).

Renny the invincible.  She's not old and definitely not skinny, but she's starting to have trouble with her horribly damaged back legs and can't negotiate the hills on the other side of the barn any longer.  She's loving the Easy Breezy life ;-D.

Billy Belly and Heidi.  Heidi is another of the old girls.  She'll be 13 this spring.  Billy Belly is only 12, but he was a bit thin heading into fall so I moved him into EB so he could get some extra food.  He's also loving the EB life ;-D.

Ewen McTeagle, Woolliam and Allie do still come out and graze at least a little bit.  Ewen can usually be talked into grazing in the yard for a few minutes after breakfast if I stand out there with him.  Allie likes to go out in the afternoons and Woolliam does a bit, but he's also quite happy to hang out indoors and eat hay and wait for the next Bingo game ;-).

Sunday Sheep Shots

I had a request for some head shots, so twist my rubber arm and force me to take my camera to the barn.  Well, actually, that was exactly what I needed.  A good swift kick in the butt.  I think this summer's heat and humidity, among other issues, has really taken a toll.  

The short break in the weather last week really cheered us all up.  Today's steamy 88 degrees with a "real feel" of 97 was just...demoralizing.  I'm just so ready for summer to be over.  I'm a sheep at heart.  I'm happiest when I can comfortably wear a wool sweater.

These aren't my normal style of picture composition, but they are what was requested for the application for which they might be used.  Hopefully they'll inspire me to get back into the routine joy of taking more pictures again.  

Actually, I've taken quite a few pictures.  My broken mojo is more in putting them into a cohesive blog post.  So...basically...here are some pictures.  

Renny

Maisie

Muffin

Muuuuffffiiiinnn ;-)

The neighbor makes fun of me for how I say Muffin.  

Biiiiiiiscuit ;-)

Daniel Not-Boone aka Big D

B. Willard...looking pretty bewildered :-D.

Priddy Liddy

Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've ever officially introduced the old rams who have retired here.  This is Jared.  Being a breeding ram (for 10 years), he was never coddled or played with or fed cookies.  He has become one of my very best barn buddies.  

"I just look tough.  I'm really a sweet, lovable cookie monster.  I've been told I'm going to be in the hugging pen at some party they have here every fall.  I can't wait!"

"I ain't going in any stupid hugging pen.  And you can keep those stupid cookies.  Jared has gone soft in the head."

This is Rocky.  He's actually not as grumpy as he wants everyone to believe.  And he will let you hug and kiss on him and even eat a cookie or two now and then...when he wants to ;-).  If he looks familiar, he should.  He's Hershey and Spud's dad and grandfather to Biscuit, Muffin, Levi and Andy.