Seventh sunrise

"Creation's seventh sunrise; we stand before the burning bush of time...." Wrong day of the week, but the colors of the sunrise this seventh day of January brought Michael Card's lyrics to mind.

So how has the first week of the new year treated you? We've all been battling colds, with Rick's being the worst. We're still waiting a call from the insurance adjustor. I've got two projects on the needles - and nothing on the wheel. We put away the indoor Christmas decorations and carried out the tree this morning. Lois told me that the ewe I'm getting from her was bred on Monday. (June lambs? I must be crazy!)

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Home entertainment center

We need all the entertainment we can get around here, where it's soggy/foggy outside, sniffly/sneezy inside, and we're still waiting to hear the verdict on our car.

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First project of 2010 underway

Braveheart forced our hand. After wrecking my car on the last day of 2009, we aren't inclined to spend ANY money, knowing that a big hit to our savings is just around the corner. But the only shelter we can offer Braveheart when it's pouring rain onto soggy, muddy ground is a corner pen in the fold. That worked fine when he was younger, but now that he is a 100-pound (more or less) wrecking ball mature Shetland ram, and I have two open ewe lambs adjacent who are acting like jail bait . . . well.Obviously. That does not work - nor is it fair to Braveheart to expect that it would. We've since reinforced the corner pen with an impenetrable wall of pallets; if the barn caught fire Braveheart would be roast mutton, because it would not be possible to get him out of Alcatraz quickly. Something had to be done.

My long-suffering husband, with much muttering about how much my sheep have cost him in time and effort, resigned himself to yet another project to accommodate them. Sunday morning he purchased materials and started work on a 12'x12' Ram Ramada in the northeast quadrant of our place, a fenced, wooded lot. We worked all afternoon and into the evening, and got the corner posts set and rafters up with spacers. Sure doesn't seem like much for the hours it took, but that seems to be the way things always go. It would have been nice to get the tin on the roof (old stuff we're reusing) before the rain came again, but at least the rain didn't start yesterday afternoon as forecast.
Hopefully we can get this completed before Blackberry comes home. With one mature ram, our sheep set-up was definitely not satisfactory; it is utterly insufficient for two rams. The boys (two rams plus wether Browning) will have to be contained within the shed until we can dig up all the bracken fern in that lot; then they will have room to roam.

I'm thankful to have a handy husband! (even if he grumbles :-)

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New Year's potpourri

Happy New Year! Where to start? How about last night's FO?This is the Knotty but Nice hat I started on Christmas Day, with the leftover yarn from that four-ounce skein of spindle-spun longwool. It is a beautiful design, but when I tried it on for size, I was dismayed to find that the heavy cabling in the center acts like a girdle, making the hat want to work up to perch on top one's head! I doubt blocking will change that; hopefully the recipient will be able to wear it - or at least appreciate the gesture (the fleece came from her ram).

This morning with the help of my trusty little assistant, a name was drawn for the Oregon Coast photo notecards. Deb W, if you haven't finished your Christmas thank-you notes, you could wait and do a few of them on the cards I'll be sending you next week! Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who was interested.

After taking care of that little pleasure, I headed down in the rain to do chores. As I finished up, the sun broke out. I didn't think twice about seizing the moment for the one New Year's tradition I have. Ever since I was a teenager in Texas, I've tried to start each new year out on horseback, and I've rarely missed out. I was afraid that this year I'd have to settle for sitting on Russell's back in his stall, because it has been raining a LOT. Instead I was blessed with this:I have no doubts that God knew I needed this balm to my spirit; such joy it brought!

After a short ride I left Russell to his breakfast, and headed back to the house for mine. The sky was grey again, and raindrops were falling. But no matter; I had been in the saddle, and my sweet husband had omelets waiting. Here's hoping 2010 started as well for you.

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