No decking of halls

I now know an Advent spinning project is dangerous. I am a goal-driven person, and keeping up with each daily fiber snack is a fun goal. I am also striving to finish my Ariya sweater in time to wear it for Christmas, despite a setback. (I forgot to switch to smaller needles for the second cuff and had to rip it back. I might also run out of yarn, and have to rip back some of the first cuff so they match.) Keeping up with daily tasks and part-time jobs is mostly non-negotiable. So what gives? Holiday preparations. Except for mother and MIL, for whom I have no ideas, all my Christmas shopping is done. But I feel no burden to get and decorate a tree, don't plan to send cards or an annual letter, and haven't thought about holiday baking. I don't feel scroogie, just disinterested. I suppose it really isn't fair to blame the lack of holiday spirit on my Advent spinning, though. Between all the challenging changes being forced upon our veterinary practice in the very near future and all the questions, costs, and challenges of knee replacement surgery in the slightly less near future, I think I'm maxxed out. Stir in the sad realization that sweet Bud needs to be euthanized, and, well, keeping my head and spirits above water seems a big-enough goal.

And with that I'll just share photos. Next week I'm swamped with appointments, and the week after that is Christmas. I'll do my best to at least post Advent spinning and IG/FB photos along the way.

Bernadette has been 'singing' like her namesake Ms. Peters, proclaiming her desire to meet a ram, any ram. Sure glad sheep heat cycles are short!

Me and my spindle, festively dressed for our first holiday 'do' of the season!

Today's ewe in (raging) heat. She may not have her namesake's eyes, but she does share Bette Davis' vocal cords!

Some of our lovely laying ladies. This morning they went walk-about, but Rick and I managed to corral them all again before the hawks and raccoons found them.

Sun's up!

I don't knowwhat plant produces these white berries, but they sure 'pop' in the winter-dark woods.

My Christmas sweater? Had a little setback but hoping to finish this in time.

That's it for now from . . .

So festive!

Blogging time has sprinted away from me while I've been distracted by Covid, my knee diagnosis,  playing ring-around-the-rammies, the weather, an agility trial, and my first ever Advent spin! I'm determined to get a post up today, then it's off to the races again.

Except for some residual drainage, we've all recovered from the bug. And for whatever reason, I had a full week of comfort in which my knees rarely bothered me, making my diagnosis seem an abstraction. Then yesterday they started complaining again, and I had a very uncomfortable night. Makes no sense to me; I hope to get some answers on January 20 at my appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. I asked for a surgeon who is open to bilateral surgery, and have started compiling a list of questions for him.

Last week was full of "he-jinx." The ewes have been taking turns coming into heat, standing at and walking the fence closest to the rams. All the boys were/are interested, but mild-mannered Bench turned into a jerk with the two other big boys, constantly bickering and butting. Bijou started laying down more than usual, a sign of a suffering sheep, so I texted the person who had reserved him to see if they could pick him up early, before he could get seriously hurt. Then on Saturday morning I did a double-take at chore time:

What is wrong with this picture? There's only supposed to be three.

Relieved to see that Bud, left, could still stand!

Bud, the ram lamb, has been kept in protective custody on one side of the Ram-ada Inn since he broke his shoulder. Somehow someone 'broke him out,' and there he was in the wooded lot with three mature rams in hormonal temper! Amazingly, he seemed none the worse for the experience, but I immediately set to work separating everyone for optimum safety (good thing we had to stay home from church anyway due to Covid). On Tuesday afternoon, Bijou's new owner picked him up so he's now out of the fray.

December started all aglitter, as befitting this holiday month. We awoke on Sunday (early, due to an agility trial) to our first hard frost, and it has been frosty every morning since. Frost art!

Sunday was a cold day to run agility, never getting out of the 30s. Poppy and I got two first place Qs – and got to put two tickets in the "Blew the Q" raffle (but she was still a rock star 😁).

I also started my first Advent spin on Sunday. A couple members of the Jenkins community on Ravelry volunteered to do all the work if people wanted to contribute fiber and pay postage. They did an amazing job of dividing and packaging everything into 10g fiber snacks for 58 people to open every day of December through Christmas. So far I've managed to spin each daily snack into singles, but sometimes just barely. I'm giving myself through this weekend to keep up; after that I may cut myself some slack and enjoy the fiber snacks (and the holidays!) a bit more at my leisure.

Opened and started at the agility trial!

Time to close and get back to work, but first, my daily IG/FB posts made since my last blog post:

Butternut lasagne (a family favorite) – it's what's for Thanksgiving dinner!

Happy unofficial first day of the Christmas season!

Dogs are good medicine.

My first Advent spin, thanks to a holiday fiber swap with fellow Jenkins spindle lovers on Ravelry.. Started while hanging out in the car between classes at an agility trial.

Waiting to go out on pasture in the morning.

A lovely little sunset  from horseback.

Dogs are good entertainment.

Good morning.

That's it for now from . . .