As the Year 2007 turns to the Year 2008, everyone thinks of new beginnings. I do not get overly sentimental about the new year. Knowing my tendencies, I do not expect any new and great changes from myself nor The Farmer. We are pretty much the same people we have been for many years, just adapting to life as it rolls along.
Living on a farm we are perhaps a bit more atuned to the natural calendar of the year. Not that we get overly poetic and spiritual. It is as it is. The days become shorter and we adapt. The days eventually will become longer and we will adapt again and change the things that we do to live as we do.
Three days before Christmas, this little lamb appeared.
Today, a Tuesday and New Year’s Day 2008, was lovely. We had a beautiful light and fluffy snowstorm, the second since Sunday. Julia and I have been away visiting relatives. The night before we were to leave my mom's home in New Jersey, I started to dream about the farm and the sheep and the lambs. I knew it was time we both got back here.
Today, in the early afternoon, we drove to the sheep barn. (It is five miles from our farmhouse.) The snow was rapidly falling and there were 23 brand new lambs to meet and inspect since Julia and I had left. The ewes have been incredibly busy. It was a lovely scene with everyone healthy and happy. The moms were all fed and munching on hay. The lambs were all taking good care of their babies.
In the next few weeks, there will be many more born. There will be some sadness and lots of joy. That is what it is like on a farm. We take the good with the bad and carry on.
I hope you and yours enjoy all that is new and special in 2008 and enjoy what has always been.
14 comments:
The beautiful images and the straightforward commentary on the journey of life was a treat.
Thanks, and Happy New Year!
Constancy is the word I'd use for you for 2008.
The little lambs look so sweet. And those walking fleeces--so much wool, so little time.
I have to tell you that I'm enjoying your book so much. I showed it to my girls. One loved it, the other said there was too much color. I could have predicted that from looking at their clothing!
Ah, what a sweet face. 23 new lambs, they certainly were busy. Lovely pictures. Happy New Year.
I so enjoy your farm photos and narrative. Although I reside in a (small) city, a huge piece of me is still a farm girl at heart.
The photos are beautiful - what a lot of snow you are getting. Are the lambs and their mums sheltered at night?
I love your blog. The narrative and the photos are perfectly matched. The last picture is certainly next year's Christmas card, don't you think? - Suzanne
That little lamb with the black spots is so sweet.
Happy healthy new year Kristen, to you and your family.
Your sheep pictures are so precious! I'm glad that Heidi from the afghansforAfghans KAL told us about your blog.
Happy New Year.
Cathy
Great post...it made me think of the Little House books, for some reason (which I still re-read!).
Here's to a healthy and happy 2008!
-- Grace in MA
So beautiful I can hardly breathe. Thank you. Thank you.
Happy New Year, for even if life rolls along, all these new arrivals have to herald a sense of renewal.
I love all the images, but especially the first as that sheep looks gleeful in the snow.
Those photos moved me. I love the imagery of the ewes birthing in the middle of the snow storm as opposed to my usual imanginings of the little lambs coming in spring. Re-birth for the new year. Quiet lovely.
Happy 2008
Jill
Such beautiful pictures!
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