"On the sixth day of the new year...

...my true love gave to me – a place to park my car in the garage!" (sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," obviously; apparently it's a recurring theme this year). After weeks (months?) of stinking up the house with paint fumes and banishing my car to the cold and rain (resulting in a sluggish battery), Rick declared the Ranger (that Brian wrecked) painted, cleaned up one side of the garage, and backed my car in last night.

🎉🎉🎉

Now watch me walk outside to get in my car out of habit and think someone stole it! Don't laugh; that's about how well my brain is working lately. Yesterday I got a reminder call from my dentist about a 2:00 appointment today. Oops; I'd scheduled a haircut in another town at the same time. I called to cancel the haircut, hung up the phone, and realized I'd need to cancel the dental appointment as well, because there was no way it would be finished in time to pick up Brian from school at 2:20. 🙄

This morning while I was doing chores (after scheduling my annual exam and mammogram for next month but before rescheduling haircut and dental appts), someone from the county courthouse left a message regarding the jury duty orientation I was supposed to show up for at 8:00 this morning. Oops again. I have to show up tomorrow morning at 8:00 or else. If there's enough time after that I'll go to work for a few hours; I usually work Mondays and Thursdays but my farrier is coming Thursday morning (couldn't reschedule that) and I need to be here for Stella. With jury duty thrown into the works, who KNOWS when I'll be able to get that haircut and have my teeth checked!

This afternoon Brian and I had to navigate the U.S. Dept. of Education's Federal Student Aid website so Brian can finish registering for college. 😳 There's going to have to be a whole lotta growing up before the first day of classes this fall for college not to be a short and very expensive life lesson. Meanwhile, the last half of Brian's senior year will fly by, I'm sure. Pretty soon we'll be looking at all this drama in the rearview mirror....

I'm so thankful to have Stella as a pleasant distraction and a source of future plans. There's no timetable, no deadline, no rush with her; just a budding relationship and enjoyable activity. I'm droning on and on about her in my horse blog. 😁

That's it for this rainy night at . . .

Changing routines

My days are suddenly simpler . . . emptier. After days – weeks? – of babying Lil'Country Nightcap along, hoping he would regain his strength while giving him special meals and helping him get to his feet several times a day, yesterday he took a hard left turn for the worst. I couldn't get him up; he wasn't interested in food; his breathing was different. Rick said it was time to end it, and I knew he was right.

If the grand old man wasn't going to make it, I guess it was a blessing to lose him this week. Next Monday I have to leave before dawn to drive to Spokane, returning the following night, and I was worried about him not getting enough support while I was gone those two days. No need to worry now....

Today I got Brian registered for the new school year, which starts Monday. We'll be back to twice-a-day trips to Salem and a much more structured schedule – at least once the first week is over. Brian is going to drive draft horses in the State Fair for Rick's client again this year after last year's hiatus, so we'll be pulling him out early Wednesday and Thursday for that. Friday afternoon we may be leaving for a horse-camping trip – or we may not. From there on it feels like a long toboggan ride to the holidays, starting out at the top with a gradual slope but quickly picking up speed while I struggle to hold on.

But rather than focus on the coming frenzy, I will try to focus the beauty around me.

It's everywhere, it's everywhere, at . . .

My one-of-a-kind calendar

Today I got the one, the ONLY 2009 Boulderneigh Shetland Sheep calendar. It turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself! Only one of the several photos considered too low-resolution for good print quality showed some pixelation, so next year I will proceed with confidence and offer some for sale. Since this one was just for me, I had all my friends' and family members' birthdays printed in it to help me more easily remember to send greetings.(Sorry, Tammy; my heart will always claim "my sweet Valentine," even though she's yours now. :-)

And for those of you who wanted to know where I sent Braveheart's fleece samples, I put the info in the comments of this post. I look forward to sending in samples from all six sheep come spring!

That's it for now at . . .

Calendar redux

Okay, spurred on by Sharrie, I'm back to waffling on whether or not to do calendars for 2009. The chicken calendar is done, I just haven't posted the link where you can order one (for about $16; I think shipping is on top of that), as I was waiting to see if it turned out to be worth purchasing. However, if I wait to post the link until after I receive mine, you may not get yours by January 1st.

I set up a sheep calendar on a different website, but deleted it this morning when I decided the quality of some of the photos wasn't good enough. I could set it up again, though. That website would require me to place an order, so I would want pre-orders from anyone who wants one. The sheep calendars would only be $10 plus shipping.

So let me know if you REALLY want a calendar, either sheep or chicken, even if I'm not sure how the quality will turn out. Others have told me they've taken a chance and are happy with the results, but coming from the printing industry, I'm a little nervous.

That's it for now from . . .

Franjean's first fling is nearly flung

Franjean is scheduled to go home on Friday. I think he's done his job because no one has been receptive to him in awhile, but he still enjoys smelling the girls.

Inky seems to be giving a clear message here; "no ram parts welcome!"
While Franjean has been a gentleman during his stay, I have been careful to give him little opportunity to be anything but. Once he's gone I'm taking a stool into the sheep fold to have a nice, long cuddlefest with my girls and Browning. I also need to pick the VM out of Inky's, Butter's and Browning's fleeces and put coats on them. I can hardly wait to scratch everyone all over and admire their fleeces! I may also start leading them down to the lower pasture to enjoy some fresh grass and clover.

About the proposed Boulderneigh Shetland Sheep calendar (for the one or two of you who were interested). I have discovered that most of my photos are not high-enough resolution for a satisfactory print job, so I am postponing this idea for 2010. My new(er) camera takes much better photos even on its lowest setting, so hopefully I'll have plenty to work with for next year!

That's it for now from . . .

Calendar and NaKniSweMo updates

I have designed and ordered a chicken calendar for myself, and will let you know if it is "purchase-worthy." The program says that most of my digital images are too low-res for good print quality, but Nancy K of "Real Sheep Wear Shetland Wool" calendar fame told me that her program said the same thing and her calendars turned out fine. I am using a site that "prints on demand," so you order directly from the publisher, and I don't pay for unwanted inventory. I think that's pretty cool! If the photos turn out satisfactorily I will let you know, and also put together a Boulderneigh Shetland Sheep calendar. Hopefully it is not too late in the year! Oh well, at any rate I will have my chicken calendar....

My NaKniSweMo project hit a big road bump. Halfway through the second sleeve, it became obvious that I did not have enough of the red to finish. The yarn, BIG Berella Bulky, is discontinued, so I contacted a friend who is on Ravelry and asked her to check there. No luck. Then A:-) pointed out the obvious solution - rip the sleeves and swap the colors, using grey for the main color and red for the stripes. Oh, how I hated to visit the frog pond, but could think up no other solution. So here is the first sleeve I am reworking next to the finished sleeve in the original pattern.I'll still get this done for Brian's birthday, but NOT by the end of November.

I'll close with a gratuitous sheep shot of Dinah and her son Browning (standing oddly; he is not humpbacked), taken today. Can't wait to spin his fleece, and see what she gives me from Franjean next spring!

That's it for now at . . .

Chick pix - and an idea

The other morning I was thinking I should look for a 2009 chicken calendar, so I can keep track of number of eggs laid and sold, how much feed the girls are eating, etc. I use calendars to keep track of info like that; I have one for the sheep (this year it happens to be an Aussie calendar; last year it was one of Nancy K's) and one for my horse. Then I got to thinking, "Why not make my own?" So I've done a little investigating, and I just might do it! I may also create my own sheep calendar for the coming year. Would anyone else be interested? Since I haven't nailed down which site to use yet, I'm not sure of cost, but it would be less than $20. Let me know, as the end of the year approacheth post haste!

That's it for now from . . .