The Corner

All the horses have loved this low corner of the front field.  It's nice to see Frankie out there.  It was his first day in the "big field".  He'll sleep well tonight ;-).

Another Winner

The moon doesn't have to be full for me to enjoy watching it "rise".  Last night's full moon though was a winner for sure.  Bright, bright orange and big.  It looks like Blogger has "optimized" my picture, but if you look really closely maybe you can still see a hint of the horses near the bottom. Sigh...

As the moon rose, a thick fog rolled in.  I couldn't capture a picture of that, but just imagine all the low areas on the farm filled with heavy white fog with the bright moon light reflecting off it. Very beautiful.  It was still foggy this morning, so for anyone keeping score on Instagram, we are now officially at one snowfall this winter :-).

I use Random.org to pick my giveaway winners and have never really thought about keeping track of who wins.  Since the first draw, Windswept Farm, seems to have this random giveaway thing figured out, I just did a second draw to give the rest of you a chance ;-D.  Denny Gross is the second pick. Drop me an email with your mailing address and I'll get a new Punkin's Patch bag out to you as well :-).

Sunday Stillness

Enjoy!

Meanwhile Out In The Field

An update on our favorite robin family!  Last night, just before dusk, I walked out and peeked into the nest to see how many babies were actually in there.  I found two babies, but they looked dull and lethargic and my heart sank.  I know how heat can affect animals, especially tiny babies :-(.

This morning I took my breakfast out to the end of the walkway and watched the "tree" while I ate.  I saw no activity.  I waited and watched for any sign of life.  No mom or dad coming or going.  I wasn't super surprised, but I'd been so hopeful yesterday.

I finally decided I had to know for sure, so I walked on out.  As I climbed up the ditch, one baby heard me and jumped up, active as could be!  I quickly backed away and was happy at least one baby had survived.  And sure enough, mom and dad were still on the job.

I checked on them from a distance several times during the day and found both babies were alive and well.  Baby birds grow fast.  Hang in there kids!  

*     *     *     *     *

Meanwhile, as I was on my stakeouts yesterday I caught a couple nice horse shots.  Hickory and T-Bone are much like Biscuit and Muffin.  They are almost always together and frequently side by side.

More puzzles :-).

Enjoy!

Bright

I normally don't like pictures I take in the middle of the day with the sunlight directly overhead, but after the storms of yesterday, everything seemed almost fake bright.

Enjoy!

Faux Fall - And The Final (For Now) Freebie

Every stinking time I think "Okay.  Whew.  All I have to do is make it three more days and it's going to rain and cool off and summer will finally be over." It teases me with a cool down and then right back into the 80s it goes.  We hit 86 the other day...in the FOURTH WEEK OF OCTOBER!  

It  sure looks like fall...

Even sort of like a pretty fall...

But this is Baaxter hogging the fan like he does all summer...at 7:30 in the morning...on October 20th. Hershey looked so miserable the night before (how on earth could it be that humid when it's so dry and crispy?!?) that I finally had to do the ole cookie test to make sure he was okay enough that I could go to bed.  If you don't perk up when the cookie box comes out, we call the vet.  Highly scientific...but actually very accurate ;-).

These pictures were taken yesterday morning.  It's cold and raining today.  We'll see if it lasts or if it's just a fake cold down for the big neighborhood Pumpkin (Pumpkin with a P) Party this weekend.   The 10 day forecast is encouraging...but I've seen that before.  

The Punkin's (no extra P) Patch Hug a Sheep/Open Farm Day is next weekend!  I thought about trying to take a new "promo" picture this year, but how on earth can you beat last year?

Actually, that whole post is pretty cute.  I love to go back and revisit the good times.  Even some of the bad times.  The link to the Ewenice and Renny tree had me crying this morning, but it was such a beautiful gift.

You know what - leave a comment telling us one/some of your favorite old posts and that will be the third calendar drawing.  Petunia can draw for that one Monday or Tuesday.  And for anyone wanting a calendar but didn't win one, I promise I'll get the Farm Shop updated this weekend!

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!

A Different Perspective

I've been stalking my neighbor's horse and cat.  Not just any "horse" and "cat", but her "horse and cat".  Traveller and Momma Cat moved in this past winter.  I didn't think anything about it other than we were happy to have some nice new neighbors and that they obviously took good care of their horse.

One morning Tim called just after he left for work and said "There's a cat sleeping in the hay roll out with that horse."  I could see that happening - hay would make a warm, cozy bed and with the early morning sun, heck, I could sleep out there :-).  He saw them regularly and frequently the horse was laying down in the hay, too.

I very seldom go left out of our driveway, so I never saw them.  Then I got busy with lambing and taking care of Bullwinkle and the grass turned green and the hay bale disappeared and I was disappointed I hadn't taken the time to go look.  Always. make. time.  

Not to worry.  It wasn't just the winter hay roll.  Traveller and Momma Cat are actually best friends and they live together year round.  Now that we have "The Unit" and are out and about in the neighborhood more, I see them all the time.  This morning I walked up the lane to see if I could take their picture.

Looking back, watching the sun come up.

I am so grateful to live in such a beautiful place.  

I need to put some work in to get the "right shot".  If I try to get closer or move around for a different angle everyone gets suspicious and the moment is lost.  I'll get it though.  In the meantime, here's a quick snap.  Could anything be sweeter?

How about a new puzzle :-).

From The Back Porch This Morning

I was going to title this post "Could This Be It?" but I'm pretty sure the weather recognizes a dare when it sees one, so discretion being the better part of valor...  

Really, there were are (almost did it again!) many things about summer that make some of us us all happy. Thanks for the fun list!  Keep adding to it and we can all check back for updates when summer is finally over ;-).

Random.org picked Jean as the happy winner.  The prize will be a 2016 farm calendar that I am working on now...instead of knitting and reading ;-).  

Springing

So it finally stopped raining (for one day :-/) and the farm began showing signs of life.  You wouldn't have known we had sheep here for the last three weeks.  The horses stayed front and center, but the sheep had holed up in the barn and barn lot and only I knew they were still around.

First late winter/early spring nap.

Hank taking a lap.  This picture was taken only hours after the first shot.  The change in grass color is partly due to the fact that the sun was starting to come out and reflecting differently, as opposed to still cloudy with the first picture, but also, you really could see the grass starting to turn green throughout the day.  

And the sheep left the barn.

With Hank by their side.

Baaxter thought Woody was a little too close to Blossom's side and wedged them apart.

So he could have Blossom all to himself.  Short spring romance :-).

"Baaxter, you're silly.  She's not interested in you :-)."

Even the old guys came out.  I'm so proud of how well they came through the winter.  Those two old guys are tough!

It's been awhile since I could take golden evening pictures.  My favorite time of day.

Graham and Maisie.  The last pictures in full fleece.

And that's a lot of fleece!

Shearing went well.  I took a ton of pictures and some videos.  I'm way behind on the Iknitarod as I'm sure you can guess, but I'm going to keep plugging on in hope.  I can't say I'm "knitting on with confidence", but I refuse to give up.  It's the Maisie way!

Snow Melt

Hickory, T-Bone and Talk

Coolin' off :-).

The Three Musketeers

Burrnie and Blossom

I was sitting on the other side of the short barn lot fence (I know better than to try to knit with the boys around ;-).  I was so enjoying watching Maisie picking at hay and the chickens picking at whatever it is that chickens pick around at that I decided to take a short video.  The sound of the snow melting off the roof and the creek down the hill and the birds, so happy...mostly drowned out by wind noise.  Argh. Always something, eh?  You might want to turn your volume down.  

It's A Heat Wave

We're supposed to reach 38 this afternoon!  I might need one of those fancy island drinks with an umbrella garnish ;-D.

Poor Gromit

For anyone who's a big Wallace and Gromit fan, you aren't going to need a close up to visualize the look on Hank's face.   And if you aren't a huge Wallace and Gromit fan, go watch some online videos (look for Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep) and come back later.  It will be much later because you'll get so hooked on them that you won't be able to stop :-).

There is a new horse on his farm - a boarder, so only a temporary member of the farm family. Hank, having years of experience in hating horses (remember sheep bowling?), isn't even going to give Talk a chance to make friends.  Not that Talk cares.  He has zero interest in Hank's sheep.

But Hank's not taking any chances!

"I Can Make It To The Fence In 3 Seconds"

Unfortunately (for Hank), no horses were harmed in the filming of this series.  He hates "those stupid horses".  They had followed me to the gate hoping I'd let them in the field with the sheep and I called Hank off before he got hurt himself.  He doesn't want them anywhere near his sheep...and he ain't super jazzed about them being near me either.  And that's kinda sweet, don't you think?  :-)

A Balmy 17 Degrees This Morning

The light wind must be coming up from the south though as it didn't feel that cold.  Supposed to go up to 40 today.  A veritable heat wave for November ;-).

Um, Okay...

The day started fairly bright and clear. Around 9:30, a thick fog rolled in. Now if we lived along a coast or something, that might not be such an odd event, but I don't remember ever seeing a sunny morning turn foggy like this in Kentucky.

A foggy day makes for pretty pictures, I think.  The light is softer, colors richer, textures more visible, no one's squinting.  Since the camera was handy... :-).

Graham

Renny, with B. Willard and Jester behind her.

Baby B/Little B/Baaxter/Lambie Lambie

Miss Tilly/Weaslie

Isn't this crazy?

Dreaming Of Last Week

I think I had thrown a long sleeve flannel shirt on to go out and take this picture of the ponies.

The heat index was 97 here yesterday.  And while I don't really care what the wind chill is in the winter, that heat index in the summer...piling misery upon misery.  Saint Tim says I have SAD.  SUMMER Affected Disorder. 

Me, Baaxter, Buddy, Woolliam, Boudreaux, Keebler, Blossom, Lila, Henri and Hank are looking for a charter to Alaska.  Maybe one of those knitting cruises!  And then we could get off at some point and "forget" to get back on ;-).