The View From The Hill

If you follow along on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook you'll know I frequently post a "Good morning!" photo from the back porch or from along the driveway, looking up the hill towards the sunrise.  The other morning I decided to grab a cup of coffee and head up/over there and shoot down the hill.

The early risers joined me.

Biscuit and Muffin, side by side :-).

What is Chocula watching?

The dogs were finishing up their morning patrol out back.

Good morning, June :-).

'Morning, Hank :-).

If you click to biggify, you can see Kate and Comby watching from the porch steps.

Continuing on patrol.  Hank headed back to the barn with the sheep.  

While June parked out in the field to monitor something across the road.

Good morning!

Here's a new puzzle.  Enjoy!

Resting Up

Good Ole Hank

Hank doesn't care that June has been getting all the social media attention lately.  He's happier just doing his job. 

"You're a good dog, Hank.  You're doing a good job."

I started telling Hank that when he first got here and the sheep were hassling him and nobody loved him except Keebler and Graham.  I still tell him that and I know he knows exactly what I'm saying.

Those pictures would make nice St. Patrick's Day puzzles, don't you think?  Enjoy! :-)

Camping Away From A Checkpoint

After a warm, sunny afternoon yesterday, we had our biggest snow of the season last night.  It was beautiful!  Huge, dropping flakes that piled up quickly.

It looks like June is running the Iknitarod Barn Checkpoint by herself, but Hank is just down the hill 😉. This only makes sense if you’ve been glued to the Iditarod Live Feed half the day 😆. The big mound is muck I’ve been scraping away from the gate and water tank for the last few weeks 😵. #iditarod #iknitarod2018 #crazyweather #livestockguardiandogs

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Mar 11, 2018 at 8:17pm PDT

I hung out in the barn and barn lot for, well, I don't even know how long.  It was late.  I'd been knitting in the Wool House with 20, Carbear, Kate and Tilly, trying to catch back up from my wrong turn during the afternoon.

Kate and Tilly are working the Wool House Checkpoint 😀. Made up my lost ground this evening. Whew! #iknitarod2018 #iditarod #crazybigsnowflakes

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on Mar 11, 2018 at 8:21pm PDT

Sometimes mushers will come through a checkpoint and then continue on down the trail to camp for awhile away from the noise and crowds.  20 and Carbear thought that sounded like a great idea and found the perfect spot to set up camp under a favorite pine tree.

I think Carbear was a bit confused about the whole Carbeth/Iknitarod event to begin with, but he's enjoyed hanging out with 20, listening to tales of previous years and is quickly becoming a veteran musher.

"How's it going out here, 20?"

"It's good!  This snow is amazing!  Just a beautiful morning for sure and the company's good, too!"

"This tree is a perfect camping spot, even with the big globs of snow falling off it, onto us.  Wool's good that way."

Mushing on!

Keeping An Eye On The Trail

We woke to snow this morning. Of course we did :-/. Once the sheep are shorn, I no longer wish for snow.  Sigh...  Luckily it was still pretty warm and it didn't last long.  Barely long enough to get some Iknitarod team pictures.  

June looks like she's lost the trail ;-).

Iris made this trail from the house to the barn years ago and Tilly still uses it.  

The Tilly Trail.

Kate may not use Iris Lane very often, but she does keep an eye on the traffic.

The snow melted so fast you could watch it happening.

I have both sleeves re-knit and I've started the body.  I was hoping to reach the 4" mark this evening, but I'm running out of gas and my "paws" are a little sore, so I may "take an eight".

Hank and June are happy about the cooler weather.  The sheep...are actually doing okay.  This weather is not ideal, but the barn is closed up to block the wind and they have plenty to eat to help stay warm.  Sure glad we didn't do the oldies!

Beggars

All three of them are vying for Tim's cheese sandwich.

Dusk

It was actually a little darker than this when I took these off the back porch this evening.  There was obviously something to be worried about or they wouldn't have been out there in the first place, but it's comforting to be in the middle of cooking dinner, know something is going on, but not having to stop to even worry about it.

And that's why we all sleep secure at night.

Snowy Sunday

We also had a dusting of snow this morning as well, but it's not sticking around any better than the snow yesterday.  Stupid snow...

And a new puzzle!

Indestructi-ball

Neither Kate nor June have destroyed their Jolly Balls.  That is really saying something!  Those girls are hard on toys :-o.

 

Good Morning

All That's Left Is The Pictures

The snow disappeared in just a matter of hours over the weekend.  Heartbreaking.  And we have thunderstorms predicted for later today.  That ought to be lovely on top of the already muddy melted ground.  

I have several sets of pictures for my "scrapbook" though so if you want to sit out in the warm(ish) muddy rain, that's fine.  I'm staying out in the cold, frozen, frosty snow for a couple more days.  These are some earlier pictures before the second snow really prettied everything up.

This was an exceptionally cold morning and the sheep and dogs were covered in frost.

Muffin was frosty only on the side of her face next to her mom.  I'm guessing she was sleeping with her head on Mrs. Pepperpot's back and the warm humidity froze when she raised up.

It always amazes me to see pictures of Maisie like this.  To see how small she really is.  I suppose she just seems larger than life...when she's headed in your direction ;-).  Objects in real life may be smaller than they appear.

Two new puzzles :-).

Enjoy!