Morning Mystery

Biscuit was the first sheep through the gate this morning, coming over to me for his morning back scratch.  I reached down to rub on him without too much thought...and then realized he was there and no one had gone out.  That's unusual.  

I looked back up the hill expecting to see Murphy fighting his way through, but he was just standing there (the tall sheep between the Krista and Liddy).  I waited a few moments expecting him to start down the hill, but he stayed put.

Everyone else was now looking back at him too.

He kept looking around...

Everyone kept waiting...

 And kept waiting...maybe not quite as patiently...but they waited all the same.

He finally gave the all clear, marched down through the group and they all headed out.  No clue.  I just find this fascinating.

Whew!

I've been so busy trying to get myself and others ready for the Kentucky Shepherd's Market this Saturday that I haven't even been posting much on Instagram the last few days :-o.  

I think the market is going to be really fun and I'm excited for all the interest in a new fiber venture, but after the last few years, I am no longer a very good "go out in public" person, so there's some a lot of stress about that.  If I get sick, someone still has to take care of the animals...  That's something to think about before you go out in public when you are not well.

My sheep are why I do these things.  I took a few minutes after I got done feeding last night to remember that and enjoy them and the peace and quiet of being in a cozy barn with your best friends.  I ended up going live for a bit because I figured I wasn't the only one who might enjoy listen to the sheep rustling about eating dinner.  

Exhale...

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I've enjoyed using a few of my pictures to help promote the market.  Chocula and Mini Moose are my favorites, but I have a new Pinto version ready for later today :-).

"Morning, Murphy!"

I've often been asked if there is a leader within our flock here, and honestly, other than certain sheep that everyone seems to respect or sheep that take on certain roles, I've never really noticed one particular sheep that has ever truly assumed control...until this summer.

I wish I could scroll back through time and see when Murphy started bowling the other sheep over to get out to pasture first.  Has he always done this and I never paid any attention until I started locking the back gate at night and opening it each morning, watching them all head out?

At first I just thought it was Murphy being a bossy piggy, wanting to get to the choicest grass (since there's such a shortage of it here ;-) first, but then I (finally) started noticing that no one ever left the barn lot until Murphy said "Let's go!"

Murphy is frequently not the earliest riser.  I usually find a big cluster of sheep already milling around the barn lot while he waits until the last minute to get out of bed, however, no one ever makes a move towards the now opened gate to the back fields.

The first thing Murphy does when he gets up is check the gate latch headed to the Easy Breezy alfalfa stash.  Once he's sure there's nothing to pillage in the barn, he marches out through the gathered sheep, bouncing off anyone who doesn't get out of his way.

At that point everyone falls in line behind him until he reaches the threshold of the gate where he usually stops to survey the back fields.   They all stop as well.  I'm not sure if he's looking for danger or just trying to decide if he's heading towards McDonalds or Hardees.

Once he's made up his mind and starts walking again, everyone else starts walking again as well, but no one ever passes him on the way out.  Whether he goes left or right, he's always in the lead.  After they all reach open ground, everyone begins to make their own decisions.

There have been some fun series of photos of this behavior all summer on IG.  It's not really a puzzle in itself, but if you are looking for a new one... ;-).

'Morning, Lancelot

In the morning I first check the field for the horses.  Sometimes they are both out grazing, but if I only Frankie is out there, I know where to find Lancelot.  He loves standing in his stall watching the sun rise.

No Mow May

The men's race Tour de France/Fleece is over, but now we are spinning for the women's race.  I'm using that as my "justification" for not having taken pictures of my yarn for a blog post yet.  I will do it.  In the meantime, one last gift from the camera card archives!

I'm not big on over mowing (even though it looks like it) and used the "No Mow May" campaign as my leverage to push Tim to not mow the back field this spring.  I thought it would mostly be used and enjoyed by all the animals, but I enjoyed it at least as much as they did. 

I loved walking back there, especially in the evenings.  Everything looked soft and magical and it didn't even feel like the same farm.  We got a bunch of rain early in the spring and everything was green and lush and the trees surrounding the Frog Pond almost felt like a little woods (the one thing I really wish we had here).

I wish I'd done a better job taking more pictures, but I'm glad I got these if for no other reason than it tricked me into putting them into a blog post so I'll be able to jog my memory for the rest of my life.

I love tulip poplar flowers and I'm glad our trees are finally old enough to really send them out.

I know most people consider wild blackberries a weed, but I think they are pretty and I know the birds love all the berries.  One year Paige picked a bunch and made a cobbler.  It was fabulous, but I'm not that dedicated and I just let them go.  I enjoy the blossoms as much as anything.  You could smell them from 15 feet away.

No Mow May was a huge success (in my books ;-) and I have added it to the maybe three things I like about spring.  If you have the opportunity, give it a try.

If you'd like to hang out in the meadow for a bit longer, here's a new puzzle.

The 2023 Calendar

Ready or not, it's almost the new year...again :-o. 

Sadly, we are only offering the farm calendar this fall, not a Lamb Camp calendar.  I say sadly not only because I liked the small size and sweet pictures, but also because I didn't get anywhere near enough lamb snorgling this past spring :'-(.

It was a pretty good year otherwise and only a few tears shed as I picked out pictures.  Archie and Bea provided several good choices and some funny stories to share.  Of course Possum makes several appearances as do quite a few sheep and that dirt ball, Lancelot ;-).  

Frankie missed getting a big picture this year because most of the time I spent with him would have given me blurry action shots :-).  Maisie's back, larger than life, there's the obligatory chicken picture and some fun surprises.  I also included a different butterfly this year and some interesting bee information.

I can't fathom how I am once again writing up a 'welcome to the new year' blurb for the back of our farm calendar. Didn't I just do last year's only a month or so ago?!?

Many things have stayed the same, thankfully. Lancelot is still rolling in the mud, Maisie is still watching over her flock by night...and day, Jared is still grazing the yard, Possum's still sleeping in all her beds, except whichever one Archie has claimed at any given hour of the day or night, and the chickens are still...well, chickens. It's hard for Bea to keep our feet warm when she's sleeping belly up on the couch, but at least when she's asleep she's still. We still miss all of our old friends.

As always a special thanks to Saint Tim for doing all the hard work and heavy lifting and a grateful thank you to all of you who are such an important part of our farm family. Your care and kindness through each year, as they feel shorter and shorter, is appreciated more than you could ever imagine. Here's to another new year!

The calendars are $20 this year and as always, shipping is, well...shipping :-/.  For the local folks, if you are interested, we can offer pick up options at Tim's print shop in Corporate Center, just off New Circle Road and you are always welcome to come out to the farm to pick one up. Fighting New Circle Road isn't much fun, but coming out to the farm and saying hi to the sheep is always fun. Please email to set up a time to make sure we're around.

For the not local folks...I'm guessing the shipping is going to be around $10.65 for most of the country and probably $15 or so for parts distant. I'm still trying to source a more ecologically friendly mailer, so I'm probably not going to start shipping calendars until next week.  Please let me know if you need one quicker than that!

If you are interested in purchasing a calendar (or anything else from the farm shop :-), just send me an email  (thecrazysheepladyATgmailDOTcom) letting me know what you'd like and please provide your mailing address.  I will include an invoice and return envelope in your (hopefully greener) mailer or box and you can stick a check back in the mail (preferred method) or we can usually figure out how to do an online payment method if we need to. 

I know it surely goes without saying, but any purchases made from our on farm shop or website directly support the Punkin's Patch sheep (and dogs, cats, horses and even those stupid crazy Adventure Chickens), but also indirectly support the local farmers who grow our feed and hay, veterinarians who take such good care, our sheep shearers, the mill that processes our wool...and, of course, Nabisco and Keebler ;-).  We all truly appreciate your support.

December

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December was a blur...but it was a pretty darn decent blur.

Do You See What I See?

So you'll know what to look for.

Do you see them?

Can you see them on the top of the tree?

This was the best I could capture on the now not so little Christmas tree on the creek, but a few are showing up.   I see these when I go down to open the gate and the sun is shining bright on a cold, frosty morning.  Little prisms...or Christmas lights :-).

September...Fer Cryin' Out Loud

Lots of good stuff to remember in September this year...even if I almost didn't remember to post it over here.  

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A New Puzzle...Finally

Good morning!  How about a new puzzle :-).

It's Hug A Sheep Day!

We could not have had a more beautiful start to the day.  I was concerned about my timing of 8:30 for the flock walk because I was afraid everyone would be done grazing and ready to head back to the barn and it wouldn't be much of a walk ;-).  With the hard freeze last night everyone was slow getting started and the timing couldn't have been better. 

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Today is Hug a Sheep Day! 😍 Enjoy an early morning flock walk on a beautiful day. More to come throughout the day 😀. #hugasheepday #nationalhugasheepday #equinoxfarm #sheep #wool #kentuckyfarm #goodmorning

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Nice Fence

I've actually been aware that this fence plank was down for most of the summer.  The sheep have been going out of their way to mock us by walking through there rather than the gate.  It's easier to forget about when you have so much else to look at...but hard to miss when you are making a new puzzle.

Sunny Sunday

We had a nice break in the weather Sunday so I headed out with the sheep for a late afternoon graze.  The sheep were spread out between the Pond Field and the Lower Paddock.  The Pond Field is...the one with the ponds in it, behind the arena.  The Lower Paddock is the closer of those two paddocks next to the Front Field.  I was sitting in the Lower Paddock with Kaala and about 12 other sheep.

This should be a fun puzzle :-).

That better just be a lot of wool, Kaala ;-).

Hark!  Who goes there?

An intruder!

And someone or something else?

We Made It

It's finally fall!

If it's too cold and dreary for you to go play outside, there's a new puzzle for you ;-).

The 2019 August Snow Report

It sounds like the Farmer's Almanac is predicting a colder and snowier winter than normal this year.  It will be fun or interesting (depending on which camp you are in regarding winter ;-) to compare their forecast with our August fog forecast.  

We really didn't have a lot of big fog this year.  There were several that I counted that were probably a bit questionable, but I figured flurries were better than nothing and maybe those light fog days were forecasting light snow.  The pictures below, taken August 24th, were pretty standard for the month.

Interestingly, as happened last year, on the very last day of August I woke to a big fog.  And on September 1st as well.  Maybe that means the snow will be late again this year...just in time for the Iknitarod.

Enjoy!

The Grass Is Always Greener...

Because there's obviously a shortage of grass on her side of the fence.

Morning Staff Meeting

It rained out the overdue spring barn cleaning last weekend.  We are cleaning in the rain this weekend :-/.  The neighbor has loaned us a big four wheel drive tractor..which just pulled in.  I have a million things to share...after we get through a couple of big jobs today.

Enjoy a new puzzle :-).

Pasture Puzzles

Nice setting sun tonight!  Enjoy a couple of new puzzles :-).