Paying it forward, delivered

The first two of my Pay It Forward handmade gifts have arrived at their destinations, so I can share photos now.

MiniKat (Kathleen) said she likes "purples, lavenders, lilacs, dusty roses, sage greens, warm red-browns," wears scarves, and prefers snail mail to email for personal correspondence. So I made her this scarf out of Purple Mountains Moonlight Mohair and a set of scenic photo notecards.

Deb said "my favorite color is dark purple; I love all the jewel tone colors. I do wear scarves." Among her favorite kinds of animals are "sheep in every color." So obviously I had to make her a scarf out of Purple Mountains Moonlight Mohair, too, and craft a little sheepie bead and safety pin "shawl pin" to go with it! Here's a close-up of the pin:
That's it for now at . . .

Fiddling around

I did it; I conquered YouTube! Okay, well, I figured out how to load the video clips I took Sunday; I have NOT figured out yet how to rotate the video I took of Brian's first fiddle performance with just his dad last year. Yeah, I'm a rank beginner at these things.

Anyway, below for your viewing and listening pleasure (I use that term loosely, especially if you have a highly developed "ear") are just two of the many songs the Academy Fiddlers Group played at a retirement apartment Sunday evening (I didn't get all of the last one on my memory card). Brian is nearest my camera, with his daddy backing him up, literally and figuratively. Brian has been taking violin for three years now, but just joined this group - and started learning all these tunes - less than two months ago. As a first grader, he's the youngest member - the next oldest is in fifth grade. We're pretty proud of him!





That's it for now from . . .

In protective custody; more at 11:00

Farmer Brian and his cat Oreo outside the sheepfold.

Sunday morning while Brian and I were doing chores, we saw Lucille in the ram lot. So we hung around, waiting for her to come through the fence to where we could more easily corner her. She did, we did, and now she in the henhouse in protective custody. Poor Lucille; she acted so hungry! Rick thinks we should keep handing her over to the neighbors, so she can keep escaping their sorry excuse for a chicken coop and potentially meet a violent end. I think we should pay them something for her and keep her. The only problem with my idea is that I think seven hens is plenty for our little coop; I don't want to overcrowd the ladies. I'll let you know what happens.Welsie trying to figure out how to get at that new hen to pick on her again.

While we were hanging around, I discovered the b/w function on my camera. Of course, I could have done this in PhotoShop all along, but it's fun to stumble across one of the many things my camera knows how to do that I am unaware of - hee!

Vaccinations were on the to-do list Sunday. Jackson needed his one-year rabies booster so he could be relicensed, the three horses needed their rhino/flu and Potomac Horse Fever boosters, and all the sheep needed CDT vaccinations. We got the dog and horses done in the morning; Rick even let Brian give one of the shots. Rick did all the sheep after evening chores before I could get down to help him - yes, he is a prince among men, and yes, it is nice to have a resident veterinarian. :-) Speaking of sheep, I will be starting a Boulderneigh lambing contest this week, so check back!

On Sunday afternoon we drove to Wilsonville to meet some friends for an early supper and watch Brian's first performance with the Academy Fiddlers Group. (Rick plays back-up guitar in the group, mostly to participate in something fun with Brian.) I took some video (another feature on my handy-dandy Fujifilm FinePix), and will try to figure out how to upload it to YouTube. I didn't get any good still shots of the performance, so you'll just have to wait for the matinee!

That's it for now from . . .

Seeking asylum?

Lucille is back. I saw her on our property briefly week before last, but when I didn't see her again, I thought perhaps the neighbors had recaptured her. Friday, there she was again, under the big, previously-pictured-covered-with-snow fir tree. When I went to the barn to turn Russell out, she was hangin' with my girls. I can't figure her out. Surely Lucille's homies are much nicer to her than my girls were when Lucille spent a night with them; why did she come back?
Although I tried, I wasn't able to capture her without my posse, so Lucille is still on the lam. If we do apprehend her again, I think I'll tell the neighbor that her chicken sought asylum and we've granted it to her.

Meanwhile, inside the henhouse, Morgan and Tawnie were busy. The light was bright enough that I was able to get good photos without a flash, which did wonders for showing off the subtle beauty of our sweet grey Easter Egger.Before last year I was unaware that combs come in so many shapes and sizes! I like the smaller combs on these girls, and would choose chickens based in part on this trait if it were up to me. Even in our relatively mild winter, a couple of the "big-comb" girls got a touch of frostbite.

Finally, February's parting gifts:It seemed to last extraordinarily long for our shortest month!

Merry March, from . . .