Month: February 2011

Special Knits for Special People

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Beautiful naturally colored wool contributed by Larry, Poseidon and Princess, hand spun and hand knit by Shepherdess Sharon into a special 80th birthday present for her special father-in-law, Dwaine.  A soft, cozy Man Hat  from a pattern by Haven Leavitt, knit in a wonderful combination of stripes to keep him snug and warm through what remains of winter.

A small shawl hand knit by Shepherdess Anita, based on the Wool Peddler’s Shawl by Cheryl Oberle, with the ruffle modifications from here and here.  The yarn was hand spun and hand dyed by our friend and neighbor, Betsy, at Quaking Maples Farm.  It is on its way to Spokane to warm Cousin Janet’s heart and her shoulders as she continues her long journey to recovery.

Special knits… love and prayer knit into each and every stitch… to bring a smile…  brighten a hospital room… to show someone just how much they are loved.

From the Heart

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It’s not a long walk from the barn.  Raven races ahead, knowing exactly where we are going.  She waits… patiently…

Our last Valentine’s Day was spent, as many before, quietly filled with laughter… joking about the perfume he was trying to buy on the internet; the two of us excited about the tickets to see Garrison Keillor I had bought as a surprise.

“Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect;
but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood.
So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
— 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verses 4 – 13

Pest Free

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Davita

As soon as the barn door is opened, we are usually joined by one or more helpers during morning chores.  Whether it is tipping every bucket in sight just to see what might be inside, carefully watching the rabbit pen for real or imagined intruders or inspecting the feed and water in the brief period of time it takes to load the bed of the Ranger; these helpers take their jobs very seriously – protecting the feed stores by keeping the barn pest-free.

Spot

Inspired by Drifty Hat

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I recently purchased the book ‘The Red Collection’ by Mandy Powers because I fell in love with all the zig zags, the bobbles, the colors and the patterns.  But I realized it was really because of this pattern – ‘Drifty Hat’ – I love this hat – can’t wait to knit it – and I think I will even keep it for myself.  A sure sign of how much it is adored.

photo copyright Mandy Powers
courtesy of Ravelry

Over the weekend I became aware of the cause of this attraction.  These colors pretty much mean winter to me.  The flash of the red cardinal in the grey and white winter landscape is a common sight in our West Virginia hills.  As I realized this, I noticed just how often we happen upon this color combination in the course of a normal day. 
Becoming more mindful of that flash of red… well, I think that is what… really… in the end… gets us all through the greys of winter.

Thy Collective Name Shall Be Mayhem

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You all remember those innocent little ewe lambs?  You know, the ones that the goat boys were constantly leading into trouble.  Well now that the goat boys have been moved, we are really not sure just who was leading who. Saturday morning upon making the hay and water delivery to the graveyard field, we discovered that Hermione had managed to get tangled in the net gate, winding it around her neck and legs.  She was fairly easy to extract from that mess, and upon investigation the evidence was found.  There was the ‘PowerLink’ chewed apart so that the gate was no longer electrified.  After checking to make sure that everyone was ok, feed and water were distributed, a new ‘PowerLink’ was retrieved from the barn, and the gate and fencing were repaired… not such a big deal, not a disaster but it sure puts a big dent in your morning (especially trying to reset fencing through the snow and into the frozen ground).

So… imaginie our surprise, upon arriving at the barn on Sunday morning, when we were greeted by these lovely faces. 

There they were, those innocent little ‘almost yearlings’ with Blackberry and Juliet in tow.  They had made their way through fencing, two gates and almost through a third on their way to causing who knows what kind of mayhem.  We quickly loaded up the Ranger with their feed, hay and water and drove out to their paddock.  They happily and very quickly re-traced their steps, leaping over the tangled mess of fencing and gates that they had left behind, back into their own paddock.  This time after everything was repaired, the new connector was woven through the ‘ElectroNet’ gates and attached to the perimeter electric fence.  Hopefully if they try to pull on the PowerLink’ (to chew through it once again), they will get a little nip on the nose from the electric and back off.   Fingers are crossed that this does the trick.

In further news… my hay-stacking karma has been sorely lacking this winter… looking for the book “Zen and the Art of Hay Hauling”. 

Belladonna Bonding

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As she nears 6 1/2 months old, Belladonna’s training continues and bonding with the flock grows.  She still has a little too much unrestrained enthusiasm to be left with the ewes unsupervised, so weather permitting she spends much of the day in the corral.  There, woven wire fence allows her to interact with the ewes but does not allow her to cause them any anxiety.  She patrols her perimeter, barking loudly at any perceived threat.  She also enjoys bringing her chew toys over to show her buddies.  We divide a couple bales of hay and feed them leaning up against the fence to force encourage the ewes to spend most of their time near Bella.  For her part, Bella has developed her very own method of gaining sheep trust by pulling through and chewing on the odd bit of hay; thus establishing her spot in the flock.