Farming in the shade

I think I can safely say that spring has sprung. We may still get snowed on, but I doubt it will last. Still working my way to 1,000 gifts. If you'd like to read about or join the Gratitude Community, click here . 56. sunny days linked together like a string of pearls. 57. water to quench thirst. 59. the sight of geese in flight. 63. son offering to help when he doesn't have to. 64. the certainty of the resurrection, even when I don't feel it.

Recently, I entered and won a group of prizes from some SHEteam Etsy shops. SHEteam stands for Schooling at Home Etsians, and is a group of etsy sellers who offer support, advice, and companionship to each other as they sell their handiwork on Etsy. All of the members of the SHEteam have homeschooling in common. In an effort to help promote their shops, I will be featuring some SHEteamers on my blog over the next few weeks. Next in line is Liz from Hands' Delight. Liz sent me two cozies--used for keeping your hands cool around a coffee cup or keeping the contents of your drinking glass cool. They are the most vibrant shade of cobalt blue--one of my most favorite colors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1) Tell me about yourself, your family and what your craft is. I'm a wife, mother to 6, and work part time as an activi ties assistant at a retirement home. My craft of choice is crocheting. 2) How long have you been crafting? I've been crocheting for about 15 ye...

We often see the lambs resting together like this. When they're not resting together, they're playing together. And that's harder to capture on camera. This morning we had to sort sheep, again. They seem to have this insatiable need to mingle with other sheep, despite our best efforts to keep them sorted out based on when they will lamb. Someone will somehow get a gate off its hinges, or get a piece of twine unhooked and we start all over with the sorting. After we were done, we could have used a rest period, too. Whew!

Recently, I entered and won a group of prizes from some SHEteam Etsy shops. SHEteam stands for Schooling at Home Etsians, and is a group of etsy sellers who offer support, advice, and companionship to each other as they sell their handiwork on Etsy. All of the members of the SHEteam have homeschooling in common. In an effort to help promote their shops, I will be featuring some SHEteamers on my blog over the next few weeks. First up is Kim from Sewciopath's Shoppe. Kim sent me one of her love & support cuffs. I'm thinking about who I can give it to--seems I know all too many folks dealing with big life-altering things like cancer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tell me about yourself, your family and what your craft is. My name is Kim. I am a full-time wife and mom, 2 girls. I also homeschool the older daughter, and I will start teaching the younger one kindergarten this fall. And in all my spare time (HA!) I try to make a few things to sell. I mostly sew and k...

Still counting my way up to 1,000 in an effort to notice the good around me... If you'd like to read about or join the Gratitude Community, click here. 41. God's grace providing what we do not deserve 43. a clean desk (though I confess it didn't last) 46. long car rides w/ my husband 47. a sibling with a generous heart 48. sunshine on the snow 49. the "mama" bleat of a sheep

Last Saturday's shearing was a great success. Let me walk you through it... Drive in here, and park your car wherever you can find room. Don't mind the mud. This is a farm, after all, and in the winter it's either mud or ice and snow. Don't mind our dog, either. She's just happy to see you! Walk in and let your eyes adjust to the darkness. The (rare) sunshine outside makes the barn seem a bit dark. You'll get used to it. Here is a pen of our Polypay sheep, waiting for their annual haircut. Along the far wall is a built in ramp chute leading up to the shearing stand. We use this chute for shearing, vaccinating, hoof trimming and just generally sorting sheep. It's a lot easier on them (and us) than running after them, pouncing on them, wrestling them down and dragging them to where you want them to go. They wait in line, advancing forward until they reach the front of the line. The shearer pulls down the door, pulls them out and onto their rear ends and goes ...

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