Thoughtful Thursday

Many things I am thinking about this Fall........................

....................a comfortable place to think about them.

A Sheepy Photo

I am no photographer but I still like to think I am. Sheep can be so hard to get a good photo of and just when you want to get that perfect look or capture the right image, they see you and they bail!! They are the worst animal to "sneak" up on. I have been wanting to get a good photo of one of my yearling ewes. The other day, I was able to get this shot of her.

Now while I was pleased with the shot it still did not capture what I was looking for.......I wanted to add softness, an inner beauty, a peacefulness that a sheep can bring to a shepherdess. I went to Picnik and played around and came up with this. I love the sepia effect on pictures! It is exactly how I see her........soft, possessing an inner beauty......gosh I sound mushy but I really love this ewe and her personality and getting the perfect picture of her has been a mission of mine!

This is Harvest Thyme Pawlet, a yearling musket ewe and a true favorite of mine!

What do you think?

I had her in the header photo but I thought the photo was too narrow so I have to play around more. My new header photo was taken from my back deck. Its also the view from the kitchen window......I love seeing Autumn on the farm!

An Early Trick-or-Treater

Sometimes I have to wonder what the animals are thinking.................

......perhaps Jammer is going for the early Trick-or-Treat theme? He better leave my cornstalks alone or I am going to show him a lambchop treat! Notice how well my "herding" dog Dixie is working to push Jammer back to the barn......pathetic, totally pathetic. I am sure she would just open the door for him too if she could.

Since I have never had a "real" trick-or-treater at my house, I have resorted to "staking" my own........ the things I do to amuse myself on the farm.

Now how about that crazy wind today??!!!

Stacking it Up!

First and foremost about this weekend is the weather! Today I was outside in shorts and a t-shirt because it was 78 degrees on Oct. 24th.....awesome! And since the weather is awesome, I am on a personal quest to get the barn stacked with hay. Since my Hay Man Mike is a full-time farmer, I have to work with his avalability. Friday evening he was available so after a few quick stops at the store after school, changing clothes, feeding the animals, and loading Dixie up in the truck, we were off to get hay by 5:30.

Now as many of you who read my "most exciting hobby farm blog" I have a BA & MA in history. I did not take Haystacking 101 in college and as Hay Man Mike will tell you, I probably would have had to retake the class a few times. Who would have known that there is an engineering tactic to stacking 50 bales of hay on a pick-up truck? I am only down to 2-5 questions when I get hay now. Mike says he is going to drop a bale on my head if I don't shut up when he is throwing hay down to me. And as I point out to him, he should be impressed that as a single white female pushing 4'10 and almost 43 yrs old, I am running my own hobby farm and I am one of his best customers AND I drive an old F-250 Ford pick-up.........at this point in the conversation I have to dodge the bale of hay coming down at me:) I am so excited to finally have a pick-up truck. I bugged the heck out of my brother-in-law and I think he sold it to me just to shut me up. Sure does make a difference having one to do farm chores though;)

Now are you not impressed by my haystacking job? I did a damn good job and I even put my own straps on (thats cuz I lost 2 bales on the last trip;)! Now in case your wondering how I get down once I stack that hay, well I just slid down the front window on to the hood and jump down:) And then Hay Man Mike just shakes his head at me......he really does like me btw LOL

So after a load on Friday (50 bales) and a load this morning (50 bales), I need about 100 more and the barn will be packed. I can hold almost 300 bales up in the loft. THIS WILL NOT LAST ALL WINTER. My plan is to get it all packed and then get 50 more every 3 weeks until the ground goes to crap and I can't get the truck back to the barn. I am getting there, sure is a lot of work though!!

I got all of my new bulbs planted in the garden this weekend...........

................some of the sheep got to play in the yard on Saturday as long as they promised to stay away from the good plants!!

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is only a month away when all of this beautiful weather is here. No complaining of course!! Just enjoying my favorite time of the year one day at a time!

Hope all is well with everyone who stops by to read and say "Hi"!