Missing Willow Farm

Sometimes we need to move a single sheep from our large pasture to the small one across our driveway.  For instance, to keep an eye on an injury or to separate our ram from the ewes.  Even with our border collie Jenna’s help, it’s near impossible to separate just one from the flock so we usually just have her move them all to the small pasture where it’s easier to control their movement.  From there we just let them out one by one until the only one left is the targeted sheep.  It’s a potentially dangerous move because the flock is left to run amok until we’ve finished sorting.  Luckily, they see the pasture gate and head straight for it.  This shot is from the outside of the large pasture.  Good sheep!

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Our upstairs has two bedrooms and a full bath.  It’s our girls’ floor for when they visit.  My husband and I heard something clacking around on the hardwood floor in our entryway and discovered Bindi had procured a new cat toy.  Evidently a really fun one!  I was wondering why I hadn’t heard her knock over the toothbrush holder or bat it down the stairs.  She apparently selected the lovely green one from the holder with her teeth (it was still standing) and carried it downstairs.  Girls, if you’re reading this, someone needs a new toothbrush.

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We keep all of our feed in galvanized cans to keep the mice out, even Jenna’s dog food which is further protected by storing it up off the deck on our gas grill.  That’s the biggest mouse I’ve ever seen….  Seriously, aren’t possums usually a lot smaller than this?  Maybe it’s just the babies you see squished on the side of the road.  The dog food lives inside the house now.

Carrots and radishes went into one of our raised beds this morning.  I prepped another bed for peas. Those will be planted tomorrow.   We’ve got potatoes on order, fancy ones.   We only raise what we’ll eat ourselves and sell the remainder at the farmer’s market.  No sense growing something we don’t enjoy.  Folks around here in our small rural community are actually interested in trying unusual vegetables and love ugly heirloom tomatoes.  We aim to please.

Cookies courtesy of my incredibly artistic friend Lora.  They’re a wonderful butter cookie recipe.  Don’t you wish you were here to try one?  I’ll have one for you….  Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Hermione had her first kid ever yesterday, a little buckling.  We found them in the barn when we went out for evening chores yesterday.  You know what this means?  Cheese!  Well, it’ll be a while but yay!  Cheese!  He’s pretty darn cute.

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Yesterday I hosted a needlefelted animals workshop here on the farm.  I have been wanting to learn felting since receiving an exact replica of Jenna from a partner in a craft swap last summer.  I contacted an instructor who lives about an hour away and she offered to come up to teach a workshop for me and my friends.   We had a lovely time.  The instructor had never done a workshop in someone’s home before and said she’d enjoy doing it again.  Everyone got to work on the animal of their choice;  cats, a dachshund, a bunny and a sheep.  Everything in the photo was felted during the class except the 3rd one from the left which was brought by our instructor (and left for me – yay!).  All are WIPs with more details to be finished at home.  One of the most awesome things was everyone received a basic kit and the instructor brought felting supplies for purchase.  These are very hard to come by, particularly around here.  It was lovely to be able to handle the roving instead of viewing it on an internet site.  I bought ten different colors.  No clue what I’ll make next but I’ve got the basics down and am inspired.  Thanks so much to Paige for coming up, you can check out her work at http://www.lulugroove.com

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We lived for ten years in one of those neighborhoods with houses right on top of each other and lots of homeowner association restrictions.  Like you have to ask permission if you want to change the color of your house.  And you have to plant a certain kind of grass.  And you can’t have chickens (boo).  And your kid’s playset can only be so high (A neighbor built a wooden one 5 inches over the limit and had to tear it down.  They moved.)  We received a notice from our association to repaint our mailbox post because the birds were pooping on it.  sigh.  We used to sit out in our hot tub on our back deck (waving at our next door neighbor running around in his underwear… again) dreaming about having a place where you couldn’t see the damn neighbors.  We looked for property for about a year.  One of our requirements was the house couldn’t be situated right on the road.  I fell in love with this place when I first saw the front gate.  Privacy!  We added the no trespassing sign after finding that strangers kept coming up our driveway to ‘see what’s back there’ and keep the gate locked at night.  And sometimes all weekend.  I can garden in my PJs!  Our house sit almost a half mile behind the gate overlooking a one acre pond.  When workers or delivery people first come to our house, they usually say ‘I didn’t know this was back here’, followed soon after by ‘Are there fish in that pond?’.  My response is usually ‘We like it that way’ and ‘no’.  Strangers seem to like to ask if they can come fish in our front yard…  Anyhoo, if we know you and know you’re coming, the gate will be open and the coffee will be on.  Call first.  🙂

Bindi has discovered a new watering hole.  We have three of them for her amusement, actually.  She plays in the water.  She also likes to run into the shower after you get out.  I think she likes to have her feet wet.  We’re trying our best to discourage her, it’s becoming a full time job.