In The Fog

 Tap, tap, tap.  Is this thing still on?  I am still here...even if there's no photo evidence :-/.

"At least post a picture to let us know you are okay."  

If you think I've gone missing, check Instagram.  I don't think you have to actually be ON Instagram to view Instagram.  You should just be able to click this link or the one with 20 that stays on the right side of the blog.  

I'm proud of my IG feed.  I'm not proud of my blog feed lately...but I'm going to really try to fix that.

It's foggy here this morning...again.  We've had a lot of rain this spring and while I'll never wish away rain (a drought is much, much worse), we could use a bit of a break.  The rain/fog is not the most interesting thing about this picture though.  It's that some of the sheep went to the right side with Murphy and some went left on their own.  

I'm not sure why.  They usually stay together.  I would think the grass is better on the left, well, until you get further out on the right side.  They did all eventually end up in the paddock on the left.  Murphy's group just came in via the back gate.  It's a puzzle.  And a new puzzle :-D.

Spring Beauties

The flowers have been so pretty this spring.  Somehow we've gotten lucky and the hard frosts have not been devastating.  

Last night walking back from the night check.  I love the way the porch lights illuminate the rain, snow, ice and flowers throughout the seasons.  

Some fog the other morning.

The old magnolia and an ancient redbud.  I have no idea how old that redbud is or even how it's still standing, honestly, but I like to think it might be because they are taking care of each other.

Green.

The greenhouse was outstanding all winter and is still going strong.  

I shared this picture the other day, but today we'll focus on the flowers :-).  I love our yard full of color each spring.

The lilacs are just starting to open.  The branches are loaded with buds and most seem to have survived the frost last week.  Fingers and proboscises crossed! 

 

Not weeds to me :-).

Stand By Me

This might be my favorite horse picture to date.  At least the top five.  I wish Frankie didn't have his grazing muzzle on, but with all that green grass, it would be a death sentence if he didn't.  It sure is pretty, but it's not doing anyone any favors here...except a photographer.

Both this picture and yesterday's are new puzzles :-).  Enjoy!

That's One!

There will be a few more snow pictures tomorrow, but I have a Wovember - Day 12 - [Wool House Crafters] Gathering at the "actual" house (warmer and with running water ;-) tonight and even though I clearly advertised that because Auntie Reg was not coming and therefore wouldn't find out, I was Not Dusting...even I'm starting to get a bit twitchy about it so I'm going to go at least run the vacuum.  Probably still not dusting though ;-).

That's Moose Who's Only Slightly Smaller Than Big Moose having fun playing in the snow.  Big Moose and Biscuit are just behind him and almost hidden is Levi, who got the whole gathering gamboling in the beginning ;-D.

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!

It Never Gets Old

Another beautiful morning :-).

The first three pictures were actually taken a week or so ago and I just found them on my camera.  I love the light on Hank and how it glides across the front field as the sun rises over Stella's hill.  The iPhone Memories video below is from this morning.  

I love mornings.  I don't really think of them as "Oh boy, a new day!"  I just enjoy the quiet beauty of the moment.  The sun rising, the sheep venturing out, the birds waking up...  I suppose I could find beauty if I lived in a city, too (there truly is beauty everywhere), but I am so grateful to live where I do.  

It never gets old.

View this post on Instagram

A beautiful morning. Enjoy 😊.

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Sep 19, 2018 at 5:55am PDT

And here's a new puzzle :-).  Enjoy!

The August Snow Report

There have been no fogs for quite a few days.  I believe that's because it's been so stupid hot and humid during the day and not cooling off much at night, but I'm no Farmer's Almanac meteorologist.  I woke up this morning, almost dreading yet another day of summer, but also wondering if there would be any fog on this last day of August. 

I don't really know why I even thought about it.  It hadn't even crossed my mind any of the last several days.  I don't really keep track of the date, so being the last day of August wasn't really even on my radar.  Maybe my subconscious knew or my guardian angel...  

It was a beautiful, cool, foggy morning and I felt almost normal...ish.

View this post on Instagram

I woke up this morning wondering if there would be fog, just like in the winter I wonder if it had snowed over night. Perfect last day of August. Good morning! #augustfog #snowprediction #beautifulmorning #thats❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Aug 31, 2018 at 5:22am PDT

I believe I've counted twelve foggy mornings in August this year.  Posting a photo every morning helped keep track of them.  Hopefully I can continue to do the same this winter so we can see how accurate this snow prediction is.

Sunday Stillness

I didn't leave the house until 7:00 this morning. There was just a slight hint of fog so I assumed I'd just overslept and missed it and was trying to decide if I could still count a fog if I didn't technically see it.  I guessed not, but decided maybe I'd get some flurries out of this one.  

The morning was pretty, regardless, so I grabbed my camera and walked down the hill.

The sheep were spread out in several paddocks.  The white down by the creek is Hank.  The whiter look to the sky...

...soon became this.

And this, just 10 minutes after the first picture was taken.

So I guess the snow is going to start slow and then dump a blizzard on us?  I'll take it ;-).

Fog Friends

Don't get too excited.  No fog this morning.  The August count is four so far though :-).  

This is actually a picture from last week.  I love B. Willard and Liddy grazing together and I figured it might make a fun puzzle.  Trying to get back into the routine of blogging.  It's been a long, hard summer, but there are still plenty of fun things to share that I don't want to forget.  

Sunday Stillness

Good Morning!

These pictures were all taken at the same time.  Well, not at the exact same time, but within a minute or two ;-).  I love how the light changes color.  The horses were shot with the sun just off to the left of center/in front of me.  I turned to the right about one quarter turn to take the pictures of Hank.

And then back again.  The horses had also moved a little further to the left, towards the sun.

Two new puzzles :-).

Enjoy!

Okay, So It's Been A Crazy Couple Of Days

I was going to start this post with a let's walk up to the barn and see what's there...and realized it was quickly going to get really confusing.  So, let's back up, what, 36 hours, no 48 hours ago and start there.

Friday night 20 loaded up the truck and prepared to head out well before dawn Saturday morning. He's ambitious like that and isn't "afraid of fog" ;-).  

Obligatory fog shot for Auntie Reg...who is actually more afraid of having to get up too early ;-D.

And yes, those are mountains.  20 took us all the way to West Virginia, to Painted Rock Farm.  For long time followers, that name should sound familiar.  That's the farm Heidi, Henri and Ford came from, turns out many more years ago than I'd like to remember.

For anyone who's seen Ford out in Del Boca Vista and wondered why he was so old and feeble looking...turns out he's 15 years old!  How the heck did that happen?  And Annabelly?  She's 14.  So is Allie and Billy Belly and Baby Belly.  Heidi and Henri are 13.  And of course Jester, clocking in at 17.

I could go off on a tangent about how old Saint Tim and I are and how many more years we can reasonably expect to be able to maintain a farm and flock, but it's getting late and I'm going to cut that portion short so I can finish this post, go make a final barn check and go to bed.  

Suffice to say that if we were going to add any new Jacob sheep, this would be a good time to do it. Getting an odd mid-January "break" in the weather enabled a safe run out there and Mike and Cheryl had exactly what we were looking for.

20 made sure everyone was securely tucked in and reassured that everything was going to be okay and we headed home.  Five or so long hours later we pulled in our driveway to find the lights on out front, the gate open and some friendly faces waiting for us.  

And now we've come to the point in this story where things get a little weird getting new sheep is completely overshadowed by other awesomeness.

Yes, that is a giant metal chicken.  A 7' tall metal chicken to be exact.  He was waiting in the dark behind the closed barn doors for me :-D.  I was startled, but not scared.  I was more excited that it was finally my turn to get surprised (he's been making the rounds of the neighborhood since Thanksgiving) and his sign completely made my day :-).  

Everyone quickly settled in for the night, the next morning came too quickly and before I knew it I was walking up to the barn in the fog and we are back to where we started with the first picture. Except now you won't be thinking "What the heck?  Is that a giant metal chicken???" 

He stood guard all night :-).

Yes, those are Christmas lights and yes, he's exceptionally awesome when he's plugged in and all the lights come on...which they don't do so well anymore, but I'm guessing we can should get some new ones on winter clearance.

His sign :-).

Welcome, new sheeps!

"When do we get to meet them?"

You won't get to meet them for a little while, Petunia, but I'll better introduce them all to everyone else tomorrow.  

Horses In The Mist

If the (Is everyone seeing these two words jammed together?) morning in August is exceptionally foggy does that mean that the corresponding snow day this winter will be exceptional as well? I sure hope so!

One Good Thing

One of the only things I've enjoyed about this summer have been the beautiful foggy mornings.  It would be even nicer if they were cool foggy mornings, but... well, I'll quit complaining.

I love watching Hank and the sheep meander out through the morning mist.

I've mentioned the "early risers" before. Mostly it's the younger sheep...and B. Willard. You can't keep up that physique without putting in some early mornings ;-D.

Here comes the next group.

And some more.

And the later risers ;-).

Slowly crossing the bridge.

And everyone's clocked in.

I am having trouble with my index finger (aka my puzzle working finger :-o) so haven't even worked the last few puzzles I've made :-(.  When I logged in this morning to create a new puzzle with one of the shots above I was excited to see another of my puzzles has been selected as a Featured Puzzle!

After reading your comments about the hummingbird puzzle taking so long, I decided to look and see how the featured Country Lane puzzle fared.  Holy. Moly.  Someone worked that puppy in 11:49 minutes.  How on earth?!?  Now I'm really itching to work a puzzle!

I'm glad everyone's enjoying the puzzles.  I think they're super fun...when my finger doesn't hurt so much...