I Have to JUST Do It ! ( Blog)

One of the last times I posted on my blog I wrote about my dog Whimsy and a walk in our woods with her. Whimsy is still a big part of our lives and here she is as she followed me around just a few days ago. You can see in the background we still have snow here at Laughing Dove Farm.

 The view from my wool shop porch shows a lot of snow in our driveway, across the pastures, and the snow covered hills just across the gravel road that runs in front of our home. ( And there is still snow on the porch , it just drifts in.)

 This is our front pasture. It is in front of our home, the gravel road, the road to our home, runs parallel to it . There are hills and mountains just across this gravel road and bountiful wild life, including moose, bear, deer, elk, coyotes, wolves, cougars, lynx, bobcats, and numerous wild fowl. ( We have captured more than a few of these on our own woods' game cams.)

 Last year I acquired two Finn sheep ewes. I have needed much more white wool than my Jacob sheep provide and bought Mona & Martha. They are due to have lambs any time now, and this will be their first time having lambs. I am pretty excited about this. Here Mona & Martha are enjoying sunshine , WARM sunshine after our very cold and frozen weather.

 Britta is one of my Jacob sheep ewes ( female) and she and her sister Jacob sheep are all due too. I have a total of 17 ewes due to have their lambs within the next 2 or 3 weeks. I will not be getting much sleep in the next few weeks.

 It has been awhile since I blogged. Every day I think about blogging and what I might write, but then I have been away from my blog for so long I don't know where to begin. ( This is the view from our driveway on a very cold and frozen February day last month.) Today I decided to JUST DO IT !

This is our driveway only a month ago. The driveway is still snow and ice covered and my blue truck is firmly entrenched in ice just waiting for our spring thaw . This past weekend I saw my first robin of spring, and yesterday the swallows had returned. The ice and snow are melting, we'll be maneuvering around big puddles soon and the snow melt from the hills and mountain across our road flows down our driveway, through our pastures, into our creek, then into our pond and over and through our neighbors' farms.

We've been loving winter here, and are now excited about spring. We've ordered way too many seeds , and know we'll not be able to plant until at least mid April because our veggie garden still has over 3 feet of snow in it, but we've started seeds indoors in optimistic anticipation of a glorious and bountiful garden.

I am hoping to be consistent with my blogging, especially because my husband said he very much missed my blog posts. For no other reason alone I would blog, but I really miss my blogging friends. One of the main reasons I quit blogging was because I love reading and replying to other bloggers but for some reason my computer treated my responses and comments to other blogs as a virus and would not allow me to comment. ( I tried everything I could to figure out how to take care of that problem, even consulted an"expert" who could not help me at all.) I am going to blog away again and work on being able to comment on the blogs I especially miss.

That being said, we are very much loving our new home and even though we're retired, we're busier than ever, but now we're busy doing what we've deemed important to us and our family, and if we want to take a day off and go fishing or camping, we do !

Washington State Fair ~ (A Simple Account from a Fair Exhibitor )

 My stint at the 2015 Washington State Fair ( formerly known as The Puyallup Fair ) is over after 5 very long , labor intensive, and fun days and nights at the fairgrounds. I am still recovering. The picture above is of me and our oldest grandchild Bugs *  in my Jacob Sheep exhibit in the Animals of the World barn, an exhibit that is only at the fair for 1 week. I don't think I could have done this  without his help and enthusiasm. ( Did you know that each and every exhibit at your local and state fairs is completely designed, set up , and maintained by the exhibitor for their duration of the fair ? LOTS of preparation and hard work go into these exhibits often done for free or for very little monetary compensation.You should take that into account when you visit your local fairs and thank the people in the exhibits you like. )

 Exhibitors are required to be in their exhibits, or have someone fill in for them for all the hours the fair is open. We ( grandson and me ) were there a minimum of 12 to 15 hours daily, beginning our day an hour and a half before the fair opens to clean out the sheep pens and get ready for the public to view. Here is our oldest grandson ready to greet the public and answer any questions they might have about my sheep.

 Goth, my Jacob Sheep ram and the main attraction of my exhibit. He is 10 years old and this is his last year at the fair. He is now happily at home and sharing a pen with two female Jacob sheep ( ewes). Maybe they will produce some very special spring lambs for me. :)

 Blitzen ( center ) believed himself to be the main attraction and he did a very fine job of looking cute while begging for soda crackers. Since he is a wether ( castrated male sheep ) he was penned up with two ewes ( female sheep ) in my exhibit. We have been getting Blitzen used to a halter and handling so I will have a hands-on and tame sheep for public displays.

 Two of my sisters and their husbands visited me at the fair, but I only had my camera handy for my sister Karen and her husband Kaare , shown above.. ( Thank-you Tom & JoAnn for visiting us too ! )

 My husband was tending things at home and going to work while I was away for so many days but he was able to help out on the last day, Tuesday, after hauling our travel trailer ( home away from home at the fair ) back to Cedar Pond. Here he is with our grandson , ready to greet the public and answer any questions regarding Jacob Sheep.

 Cedar Pond's Tovah (rt.) and her ewe lamb Tauriel shared the pen with Blitzen.

I had a good time at the fair, so did our grandson , but the days of preparation for the fair were also consumed with constant watering of our gardens and livestock, canning a bumper crop of grapes late into the nights preceding the fair, and simple home tasks . We returned home from the last day of the fair after midnight  to begin  unloading sheep and tending to animals missing my presence. I am only now beginning to feel I've caught up on my lack of sleep and with things around Cedar Pond. I've now begun my list of needful things to be done soon. Blogging is one of them...I've missed my blogging time and my blogging friends. But life is good, my animals and gardens keep me busy, my family fills my heart and time spent with them is a blessing of the best kind. (Photo is of Blitzen )

Can't Stop Blogging After All These Years

 Five years ago I began blogging while waiting for our youngest grandchild to be born. We have 8 grandchildren , the youngest and oldest of the eight are our only grandsons and both share July birthdays. I can't believe our youngest grandson is going to be 5 and our oldest is going to be 14 ! ( our daughter's 4 children are shown here on our day trip to Alder Lake last week )

 Youngest grandchild, Little 'J'. His birthday always marks my blog birthday.

 Oldest grandchild, "Bugs", he and I share a chicken blog.

 Blogging has been such a rich experience for me over the last 5 years. I have made friends through blogging, learned many new & wonderful things, shared joys and sorrows with sister-bloggers, prayed for them, been prayed for too. As I watched these four grandchildren play in the lake I  realized just how quickly life changes . Little boys and girls grow up fast ! I am thankful I began this blogging adventure because putting my thoughts into words along with pictures of my day-to-day life has given me some perspective and an even greater appreciation for this life I have, right here, right now, in the good, and the not-so-good.( But mostly good ) I publish my blog every year , believe me, I am so glad I do because I have forgotten a lot !

Blogging is a joy for me for so many reasons, but when my grandchildren open my blog books ( they often do ) and get excited about one of my previous posts, when I read a post and remember "Oh yeah, that duck WAS funny !" or " Wasn't that tea-party fun?", then I am reminded how quickly life flies by and thankful for this opportunity to record snippets of my life here on Cedar Pond through blogging. I know I can't stop blogging after all these years. Thank-you for reading my blog !

*In celebration of 5 years of blogging I will be having a give-away this month. I will be giving away a flock of 3 Wee Little Sheep .If you're interested in possibly winning the flock simply leave a comment and I'll enter your name.There will be a drawing for the winner July 31st.

Almost Finished ~ To What End ?

Since last November our family has lost 2 beloved parents/grandparents.There has been a lot going on with family gatherings, and as most of you know, daily life still requires the dishes get done, the house is somewhat in order and clean, bills need to be paid.Since I do have a flock of sheep providing me wool with which I make items to sell to buy hay for the sheep, I am always finding myself going from project to project. I have quite a few Wee Little Sheep almost finished.

 

I have a lot of yarn being spun up, waiting to be dyed, and much more wool I am excited to begin spinning. The yarn is almost finished.

I have also set aside quite a few wool felted balls I made from the fleeces of my sheep to embellish with needle-felted designs, such as these ...

...and these. The bright flowers make me smile.The wool felted balls are almost finished. Two lockerhooked rugs are almost finished.

Of course, all my wool projects depend on wool from my flock of Jacob sheep, and several of my ewes are due to lamb anytime from now until mid-April. New lambs almost ready to be born.( this is a picture of a pair of my lambs born in 2011).

Tea time in Blog-Land is a delight for me too. I love Tea Time Tuesdays with all the tea blog parties,and love to participate in them.Lately I have been hit & miss with so many aspects of life I take delight in. That seems to happen when families come together during the extended illness or death of family members.All of a sudden, the routine and taken for granted aspects of our days are changed because more important things require our time and attention. Now though, there is a bit of respite. Time to again clean the house more thoroughly. Time to clean the animal pens and  plan this years' gardens.Time to work on projects needed to maintain order, earn money, or keep up a home . Time to sit with loved ones and simply enjoy being together, because we can. Time to take tea with maybe a cookie or two ( or three?).Time to reflect on life, it's joys, sorrows, blessings, and how fleeting it is.Each of us can truly say our lives are almost finished,even if we have another few decades.If I remember to live my life knowing I could die today, maybe I will be more careful knowing should I die today, any memories of myself I leave my family will reflect the values I exhibited in my day to day life. Will my almost finished projects and doings be all I leave behind, or memories of leaving the busy-ness of this life when it mattered to tend to more important things? Oh that I would be able to say "But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God." Acts 20:24

Spot On New Chicks & Blogging

This is one of a dozen new chicks that hatched out yesterday, under the careful brooding of 3 Silkie hens. The chicks are purebred bantam Cochins ( white) or bantam Silkie / Cochin crosses. They all have a frizzled father, which means they can have very curly feathers causing them to look like your fluffy house slippers.

My husband & I have been working overtime to replace our storm-damaged fences, clean up our acreage, harvest our gardens, harvest the honey from our bees, get ready for the Puyallup Fair where we exhibit my Jacob Sheep for 5 days, prepare for the winter by stacking firewood & hay to last, and joyfully get ready for my baby sister to stay with us for awhile while she considers what job she'll choose and where she'll live. Yay! My youngest sister will finally be home where she belongs!

Meanwhile, I am still tending my flocks of chickens, turkeys, ducks, sheep, and all the while preparing for many imminent events of great joy. I have not been able to spend much time on-line because of the things I need to do daily, and also because our computer is not behaving . Naughty computer. I have been reading your blogs, of course, downloading blogs  is taking a lot of time, so I get household chores and cooking done while waiting to read my favorite blogs. Then, because my computer is in need of replacing, I have to take time ( LOTS ! ) to comment. After this month my husband and I are hoping to replace our dinosaur of a computer , but please know, I appreciate your comments and I am reading your blogs, and hopefully soon, will re-join active blogdom, comments and all. Because, really, how can you NOT read a great blog and comment?

If you're interested in chickens, check out my other blog, JUST CHICKENS *.

Our New Best Friend

Meet Chip, our new best friend. Chip and my husband will be spending a lot of time together, they have a big job ahead of them. We hope Chip our new wood-chipper is up to the job ! I am trying to catch up on reading & commenting on blogs. The work load outside is enormous after the ice storm damage to our place. So much damage it is hard for me to look out the window at the destruction of our woods & gardens. I am sure in a few weeks though, I will be excited to help my husband plan and create new plantings. But, this will take awhile, the destruction is so massive around here and the work to be done just cleaning it up is going to take a lot of time & energy. Day light hours will be spent outside unless the weather is dreadful, then I will be getting ready for lambing time which arrives here any day now. Life is good, God is gracious and we are blessed. ~

I'm A Distracted Blogger

When our children grew up and had families of their own, I missed them and regretted the many times I was too busy attending to some things that in retrospect were not worth the time and energy expended. I will never get those days back, and really, would it have been such a big deal if the sink full of dirty dishes and the baskets full of dirty laundry waited while I rocked my little ones a bit longer and read just one more storybook to them? ~"While we try to teach our children all about life, Our children teach us what life is all about." Angela Schwindt ~ Now that I am a Grandmother,I find I am still a busy lady, but perspective changes some things...I guess that is what the blessing of getting older can do for us. ( Yes, getting older IS a blessing, think of the alternative.) I should have posted about the wonderful Valentine Tea Party I had with 5 of my grandchildren for Tea Time Tuesday, but after all the fun of our tea party, my youngest Granddaughter who is staying with us for awhile and I cleaned up and enjoyed each others company. It turns out she loves to just stay home and play quietly, checking up on me and my husband every so often. She sings to herself while her dolls and stuffed bunny have a wonderful time with her. I love to watch her, sing to her, and cuddle her when she is ready for a snuggle.I even take a few moments to watch her sleep. So, I am now a distracted blogger. My Valentine Tea Party will be posted next Tuesday, but for now there is a lot of cuddle time not to be missed....she is our youngest granddaughter, and growing up quickly! ~ "A child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to." Robert Brault