In The Dark

We have just gotten our power back after two days in the dark. Lucky it wasn't longer. Only thing I was worried about was the meat in the freezer but thanks to our farm truck and an "inverter" which we use to power our freezers at the Farmer's Markets, we were able to keep our freezers going. At least there was snow to melt for water. We still have a "corded phone" so we didn't feel too cut off from family and friends.

I spent the daylight hours packing postcard and book orders until it was too dark to see anymore. Got everything out that came in before Sunday. Look for them if you ordered. Thank you again for all those orders. I am temporarily out of "Sheep in Sweaters" Cards but they are on re-order. I will try to e-mail everyone who is back-ordered. Please be patient. The cards should be back in stock in two weeks. Thanks. Never did I think these would be such a hit!

My e-mail in-box is exploding. Trying to get back to everyone.

Weather has been crazy like many parts of the country this year. Mostly, we have escaped snow and all of you down south have gotten what we typically get. Not this time. Over a foot of heavy wet snow compounded by another second day of cold wet rain. Everything turned to ice overnight. Now more snow. No power for over two days. We shall see what the day brings here.

Miserable few days to be a sheep.


Or a sheep farmer.


If you are a cat living here in our farmhouse, it's hard to make up your mind if you want to be in or out. It is a daily service I supply here - slave to all the cats' fickle ways. In.... Out..... In..... Out......


Or 84 who is now living with the rest of the sheep and learning to walk through snow.


84 follows The Farmer around the field.


He would rather be living with his first family in luxury but it was time for him to be a sheep and live like a sheep.


The sheep have plowed their own little trails through the snow to get to the bales of haylage.


High winds last night and through tomorrow. Hope the power holds. Time will tell.

Upcoming Kristin Events:
Remember R.J. Julia Booksellers - The Joy of Color Talk - Friday evening March 5th, Madison, CT.
This Sunday, February 28th, Creative Embroidery on Knits, Knit or Dye, Brattleboro, VT.

Upcoming Happenings and Another Crazy Lamb in a Sweater Photo

Back from a few days away for Julia’s school vacation and now plugging away at all those postcard and book orders you sent my way. You guys are awesome. Thank you so very much. And The Farmer and Julia thank you too. You know, I must say, I can never quite figure out what will resonate with my blog readers. I probably should not admit to this but it is the truth. I thought the lambs in sweaters idea was a cute one but boy, was I surprised by all the excitement. I’m going to give you some of the details behind taking the photos later in the week but let’s just say it wasn’t the easiest project I have taken on with my new interest in photography.

I want to alert you all to some things that are happening very soon. On March 5th, I’m going to be speaking at a fabulous bookstore called R.J. Julia down in Madison, Connecticut. The talk is on a Friday night at 7 p.m. The title of my talk is called “The Joy of Color” and it’s going to be a very fun slide presentation and Q & A. Please tell your friends – anyone who knits, crochets, quilts or sews will enjoy what I have to offer. I promise the talk will be worth the drive if you have a long distance to drive. Also, if you are a knitting or quilting guild member or own a yarn store, let your friends and customers know about the talk. I would love to have a good turn-out. It’s a long drive down and a long drive home late at night and Julia will be in tow (another school day off). We would both like to meet whoever comes. There is a nominal fee of $5.00 and you can sign up on the RJ Julia website here or pay at the door. The cost of the talk can go towards the purchase of Color By Kristin. Please spread the word. There will be door prizes too. A really fun night out.

This coming Sunday, I’ll be giving a class at Knit or Dye in Brattleboro. I’m pretty sure there are still spaces left in the class. You can call Rachel at Knit or Dye to sign up. All of the information is linked on my sidebar.

On March 13th, I’ll be teaching 2 classes down in Ridgefield, CT at a fabulous Yarn & Gift Store called Nancy O. The information for that class is on my sidebar at left.

On March 20th, I'll be teaching 2 classes in Harvard, MA at the fabulous "Fiber Loft." Reba has been trying to get me to come down and teach for years. Last year, the class didn't fill and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this year. You can check that out on my sidebar at the left.

Over at Craft Gossip, they are running a giveaway for Color by Kristin. The deadline to sign up is February 25th so hop on over.

Today, I leave you with another "lamb in wool sweaters" photos. Like I said earlier, taking these photos was one big adventure. I had to photograph lambs that were only a couple days old because they were the only ones who would fit in the sweaters (lambs grow very fast). One of the first days I attempted my project, I dressed a little white lamb in the pink sweater. There was snow on the ground and it was a bright and sunny day. (I actually prefer taking photos on gray days.) The little lamb in the pink sweater was extremely active and try as I could, it was really difficult to get a good photo in the snow and away from anything brown (and that would be just about everything in the barnyard). I was actually taking photos of two lambs at the same time and had just put the first lamb back in the barn after "undressing" it. Trying to get two lambs in a photo - that was a complete failure. The Farmer called to me and said "you've got to come here." I ran out of the greenhouse as he doesn't often sound excited about anything especially when slogging about feeding hay. He pointed and I couldn't believe my eyes. There lying down on top of our giant 200 plus pound Romney ram was the little white lamb in the pink sweater. I snapped very quickly and in a second the lamb had jumped down off the ram. I did get this photo. It really does show the scale and size of all the animals, doesn't it? The medium sized ewe is at the left, the giant ram taking up almost the entire photo, and the little two day old lamb, wow! Cute, huh?



If you are really astute and paying attention to details, you will see that this isn't the exact pink sweater that I showed you the other day (photo is up on the left on the sidebar). Originally I only made and attached 3 crocheted, embroidered flowers on the sweater. Immediately upon looking through the camera at the lamb I could tell that if I made a wreath of flowers at the neckline of the sweater, it would look much cuter. Back to the crochet needle, the yarn and the embroidery and a day later I was at it again, working on the photos. These photos took a crazy amount of time to get right and if I wasn't determined and slighty nuts, I would have given up.... (or maybe if I was smarter?)..... The Farmer just kept looking at me with amusement and bewilderment, I will admit. "What will she do next?," is probably what he was actually thinking and if you all hadn't been so supportive with buying the cards, he probably wouldn't be quite as patient as he will be now if I decide to dress any other sheep in outfits.

You can purchase the postcards of the lambs in sweaters here on the shop page of my website. And don't forget that the "Dog in Sheep's Clothing" pattern is availble IN EIGHT SIZES for download on my website. For all of you with different shaped dogs (big necks, long backs, short legs.....) I have enclosed a page on how to customize the pattern to fit your particular dog. Enjoy your day......

A Dog in Sheep's Clothing - A New Kristin Nicholas Handknitting Sweater Design for Dogs and Other Animals

Announcing my new PDF pattern "A Dog in Sheep's Clothing!" which is now available on my website for instant download. I previewed the pattern last week on our little lambs. It is knit in my beautiful Julia Wool/Mohair/Alpaca Yarn which you can find at your local yarnstore.
I started this design last summer at the Farmer's Markets. I've had the idea in the back of my head for a few years now. As I had plans to show the dog coat on our newborn lambs and our friends' Clara and Peggy's sweet little Rat Terrier Junie, I really got knitting after Christmas. I had a few false starts, first planning a fancy Fair Isle design. When it came down to it though, I decided to keep the sweater easy to make so it wouldn't intimidate the beginner knitter who really wants to make their dog a sweater. The shaping, although not difficult, is something you need to watch and I decided it would be best to leave out lots of Fair Isle patterning. I think I made a good choice.

Garter stitch seemed the best option for the "Dog in Sheep's Clothing" pattern - it lies flat and is neat on both sides where the shaping occurs. There are 3 designs included in the pattern and the pattern is written in EIGHT sizes with notes and suggestions for fitting your particular dog.

This is the solid version shown on the white lamb with the floral crocheted collar:


The simple two color garter stripe is shown on our good friend Junie the dog:


The 4 color multi-stripe version is shown on the black lamb:

Thanks to my friend Clara who added some lovely color and style to the photos of her walking Junie.


You can purchase "A Dog in Sheep's Clothing" handknitting pattern on my website here now. Check out the pattern specifics here on the Julia Yarn Page!

What a huge hit my lamb in sweaters photos were! Thanks for all the postcard orders too. I'll be working on getting them out all this week. If you missed ordering them, you can find them on my Shop Page just below the PDF Patterns.

She's Gone Crazy! Too many lambs and too much knitting.......

Some may say I have gone nuts. That's okay. Sometimes you have to make your own fun here on the farm. I've been knitting. Now that isn't an uncommon thing here. I knit - sometimes a lot, sometimes not. But I have been knitting a lot this winter.

I've also been taking lots of photos - mostly of sheep and their lambs. You know -- you've seen many of them, haven't you?

So what do you get when you put knitting and lambs together? Some kind of crazy knitter woman with all this stuff on her brain... with too much time on her hands...... Actually no, I don't have too much time on my hands..... it was all I could do to get these done.....Idea has been brewing for a couple years.... never any time to make it happen.....

Today, I give you some of my latest combo efforts....

White Lamb in a Striped Coat in the Snow


White Lamb in a Pink Coat with a Donkey named Eeyore


Black Lamb in a Striped Coat


White Lamb in Snow with Crocheted Flower Collar


All knit in my lovely Julia Wool/Mohair/Alpaca yarn which you can find at your local yarn store.

You can purchase postcards of my latest zaniness here on my Shop Page. Go ahead, reward the fun I bring you from the farm. Buy some postcards..... Share that lamb and knitting love with a friend by sending a postcard.... You know you've been trying to convert those friends of yours - knitting, lambs in wool sweaters, what could be better?

The postcards are here but I won't be shipping them until Monday, February 22nd because it is Julia's winter school vacation and I'm entertaining her and we are visiting my sister and her family. There will be no copyright type on the front of the postcard.

And By The Way...... The pattern will be availbable very soon if you would like to knit your lamb a sweater...... I have to knit at least 148 more..... and they aren't this small anymore.....

Thank you for your support. Spread the word about Kristin's lambs in sweaters in the Julia Yarn......

Bits and Bobs as They Say.....

School vacation this week - snow today, finally. We've missed every big storm there's been. Cleaning my studio and the bits of lamb pee No. 84 has been busy doing. He's still going to work. Last night he didn't get home until 10 p.m. Pretty soon, he'll be staying at work all night long - like a teenager.

You must watch this video. Quite hilarious. Couldn't figure out how to get it on my blog. One day I will. Thanks to Helen of Chronic Knitting Syndrome for the FYI about it.

And have you seen this one? That Ann and Kay of Mason-Dixon Knitting are too much, aren't they?

Good thing I don't get high speed internet at my house - I could be on the computer all day long if I didn't watch out.

Going to Work

We listen to a great radio station here in “The Happy Valley” called WRSI. This morning, the D.J., Monte asked a caller what she was doing today. She said she worked nights as a waitress but during the day today she was going to be collecting compost and food for her worms to eat. The Farmer and I just looked at each other and grinned. Only here…..

Last weekend was the big “Winter Fare Farmer’s Market” in Greenfield. We didn’t have enough lamb to bother exhibiting and selling but we went anyway. Julia and I and 1500 others! What a huge turnout and a massive good time. I saw lots of farmer friends – including Jeanette at Chase Hill Farm, Warren of Our Family Farms Milk Coop, Kyle from Bostrom Farm, Gloria and Ervin from Coyote Hill Farm, and talked to many other farmers who I was just meeting. I bought fingerling potatoes, carrots, parsnips, green house raised lettuce and some wonderful cheese called Dutch Gold cheese. Do you have a Winter Farmer’s Market in your area? If you do, go – it’s a great time.

Here’s the scene this morning as The Farmer and No. 84 head off “to work.”

No. 84 is learning to be a sheep. It’s not easy and he doesn’t like it. He started going to the barn for an hour a day early in the week. Now he and The Farmer head off every morning and he spends the day at the farm with the rest of the sheep. He comes home at night and sits by the woodstove just hoping we will forget that he is supposed to be a sheep and not a sheep dog. That’s the problem with some bottle lambs. You need to get them right outside or they quickly become dog and cat-like. The other scary thing is they don’t have the instincts to run away from a predator. A little hard to teach a lamb that. We can only do so much – that’s why it is best to get the bottle lambs back with the flock quickly.

Sorry about the glare in the photo but at least the sun was out and shining and spring seems closer with every day. We got only an inch of snow during the past storm. I guess all of you down south are getting what we usually get. Good luck digging out. My advice to all of you is to do a lot of knitting!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

Wooly Faces of the Flock

The other day, someone asked me how I get such good photos of the lambs' faces. I thought this was kind of an odd question but then I started thinking about it. What do I really do to get these photos of the sweet little faces? I made an effort one day to take photos of only lamb's faces and then think about what I was doing because folks, a lot of this is just natural for me. It was a fun exercise. One thing is, I use a zoom lense - I am not very close to the lambs. The other thing is that lambs are just naturally curious and if I'm quick and attentive, I can usually get a good shot. These images are one brief millasecond in time which is kind of cool to think about. I'm also pretty good at making funny noises so the lambs will look up.

When I finally loaded the images onto my computer, I started looking at all the different lamb portraits and I realized how different many of the lambs look from each other. It was like looking through a yearbook of a school and seeing all the different faces. Most people think a sheep is a sheep and that's it. That is just not true.

Our flock began with Romney sheep - a good dual purpose breed (meat and wool) that originally came from the Romney Marsh in England. They do well here on our hill farm which can be quite damp and wet in winter and spring. Foot rot (isn't that a terrible thought?) can be a big problem with sheep and the Romney's don't get it very often. We started with Romneys because they are rather popular with handspinners and at that point I was quite into handspinning my own fiber into yarn.

As the years have progressed we have moved away from purebred Romneys. When we were first getting started in sheep, we picked up a ewe lamb from the local livestock auction. We named her Clover (that was when we named our sheep). Clover grew into a big sheep and lived a good long life here on our farm. She was the most productive ewe we have ever had. She almost always had twins and sometimes would have two sets a year. Her lambs hit the ground, got up and thrived. After our Clover experience, we decided to keep up the cross-breeding program because the purebred Romney lambs needed more help starting out than the cross-breds did. At that point we were living in easern Massachusetts and the sheep were out here in western Massachusetts. The Farmer drove every day during lambing season (1 1/2 hours one way!) Lambs that hit the ground running was what we needed! It has been a decision that was the right one for our farm and has been rather fun besides.

We have been breeding for a healthy type of sheep that will do good here on our farm. It makes sense, doesn't it? If we try a cetain breed of ram and either he nor his babies don't do well, we get rid of the ram and most of his progeny will not stay on the farm either. We've got to make this thing as simple as possible not that any of it is simple. Over the years we have had Dorpers, Texels, Dorsets, Finn-crosses, Rambouillet crosses and Romneys, always Romneys.

This year we used a Romney ram, a Border Leicester ram and a Romney-Shetland cross. Here are some of the babies they produced:

This big guy is a Border Leicester x Romney cross. See his long ears and his open face. He is tall and quite good looking.


This lamb looks like a classic Romney although none of our sheep are purebred Romneys.


Here's another Border Leicester cross. His ears aren't quite as long as the other lambs.


A few years ago, our sheep were grazing a neighbor's field. She had a small flock of Shetland sheep. One of her rams kept jumping her fence and ending up in our flock. The next winter we had a bunch of Shetland/Romney crossed lambs. They are super hardy animals and do well right away. They are a bit small. The Farmer likes these crosses because he thinks it is bringing a hardy, rugged gene into our flock. You can tell they are Shetland crosses by the cute little beard they have.


Here's the lamb I call the Teddy Bear. He has brown ears and a brown nose and a very fluffy face. He is darn cute now but probably won't be the best looking older ram. I love to watch him grow.


This lamb is another Border Leicester/Romney cross. His ears, nose and eyes are pinker than the rest of the lambs. He's got those nice long ears. Makes for a smart looking sheep.


Lastly, here's a classic Romney looking lamb. I just love the look of Romneys. I must say I am partial.


If you want to learn more about breeds of sheep, I highly recommend The Knitter's Book of Wool by Clara Parkes. I don't purchase a lot of knitting books. My shelves are pretty full and I honestly don't have a lot of room for more books. Most of the books I do purchase are technique books that will last years in my book collection. That said, the other day, I purchased Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Wool because I was curious. I already know more than the average knitter about wool and probably didn't need it but I enjoy Clara's Knitter's Review and I've got to support people I admire and who believe so strongly in what they do. Don't you agree? I finally got a chance to look at it the other night and I can see why it is a hit. Not only is there a real lot of great wool information in the book but it is jam packed with good patterns - mostly basics that will stand the test of time. The wool information is written in an easy to understand way for the novice to understand. Clara talks a lot of about breeds of sheep, length of fiber, and characteristics of each breed. This information is great for spinners or people who are interested in breed specific wool. So check it out if you want to know more about why wool is. I'm pretty sure this book will stay on my shelves a good long time.

If you are interested in designing with CABLES, I would suggest Janet Szabo's comprehensive Cables 1: The Basics. All of the cable patterns are split up by stitch count which if you are interested in designing your very own Aran sweaters, a great resource to have in your library. Many, many years ago, Phildar put out a title similar to this which I found incredibly useful when designing the many Aran cable sweaters I used to do. Janet also has a fabulous book on how to design your own Aran sweater called simply Aran Sweater Design. It's a great title for anyone interested in making up their own designs and not following a pattern.

I have designed many a cabled sweater in the past but at the present, they just don't interest me that much. I guess I've moved on to colorwork and can't get out of it because I find color just so darn fascinating. That is the great thing about knitting - it can keep you interested and busy for your entire life.

What's your favorite technique of the moment?

Chain Stitch Tutorial on a Heart Swatch

It's been a while since I've uploaded a video for you all. In honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day Celebration, I finally finished editing this little Chain Stitch Tutorial which shows a knitted heart being embroidered with Chain Stitch.



This little swatch was part of the prototype for the designing process that became The Many Hearts Baby Afghan from my book Color By Kristin. Here's the photo by John Gruen from the book. Our little kitten Annika Sue is asleep on the blanket on a doll bed.


Here's the blanket hanging on a fence outside our farmhouse. The blanket is made by knitting 9 separate hearts. They are then sewn together to form the center of the blanket. A circular needle is used to pick up all the stitches all the way around the four sides. The mitering at the corners causes the blanket to grow. I love this project and I've heard that many of you are making it. It's a great project for a knitting group to make together for a new mom and her baby. Each knitter can make a square. The blanket can be passed around and each member can make a few of the stripes.


You can order a signed copy of Color by Kristin here on my Shop Page.

Quick Embroidered Hearts and Some Lovely Knitting

++I love to do embroidery - it is quick and beautiful and really relaxing. Something, anything, that is hand-embroidered is a really special present for anyone. I've made heart pillows, heart sachets, heart themed pillowcases and I've even knit hearts. Here are a few embroidered heart ideas which may inspire you to stitch a heart for someone special this weekend.

This heart pillow is a project from my book Colorful Stitchery.


I made these hearts for Julia's teachers one Christmas. I stuffed them with lavender and put a little tie on them to hang them on their Christmas trees.


My Mom, sisters and I made these lavender filled sachets for my sister Jenn's weddiing shower guests last fall.


I made my sister Jenn and her husband linen pillowcases with embroidered hearts on the edge. Here's a close-up of the heart.


I made Julia this heart pillow out of recycled blankets. The heart shapes were cut out of different color wool fabrics and then stitched onto the green background. The vertical lines are done in feather stitch.


Make a heart today.

I had to share a project that Deborah from Minnesotat is making. She teaches a class at All About Yarn. The class project is my "Very Long Scarf" from Color by Kristin. The class is so popular, they have added a second one. Here's Deborah's version of my scarf. Isn't it beautiful? You can check out their website for a different view. It is so much fun to see what people do with my patterns - especially exciting when they mix up the colors. Nice job Deborah!


Lynn H from ColorJoy in Minnesotat is doing a great job on The Mother/Daughter Mittens. She is changing them into fingerless gloves. Check that out here.

I also want to thank Carol S. from Go Knit in Your Hat for the thorough and wonderful "no bull" book review of Color by Kristin. You can check that out here.

Doesn't all this knitting and stitching with color get you through the winter? For all you wondering, we didn't get an inch of snow this past weekend. Hoping for a bit of the white stuff tomorrow. Our ground is bare and brown and quite ugly looking.

p.s. You can buy signed copies of my books Colorful Stitchery and Color by Kristin on my website here.

Historic Buildings in Brattleboro + Another Quarters Cap

I'm still working on Christmas 2009 folks. Anyone else in the same situation? I just finished three Quarters Caps for my sister Jenn's new step-kids Bryce, Reese, and Chase. I've got to get the caps in the mail before it warms up. This time, I added some crochet flowers to Bryce's hat. Julia was desperate for me to let her keep it but I'll have to make a different one for her. I wanted to show you all how cute it turned out.


The other day I got this comment from Australia after I wrote about books Julia has been enjoying and the new yarn store Knit or Dye in Brattleboro where I will be teaching February 28th:

Ruth said...

Loved reading about Brattleboro. My childhood church was a little brick and iron building built in a paddock 10 miles from the nearest town in country Western Australia. It had a small pedal organ (which I played during holidays from boarding school, all stops out) and the gold gothic writing above the keys proclaimed that it was made in Brattleboro VT!!

Ruth's note reminded me of how I have always wanted to write about about an amazing bit of architecture in Brattleboro. One day many years ago when I was trying to avoid a traffic jam in Bratt, I took a side street detour. A little bit down the road, I found the most amazing series of tall and large buildings covered in gray slate. I have always been interested in old buildings - they don't have to be fancy, nor in great shape. I just like looking at them and wondering about how they got there, who built them and what they were used for. Part of that building love comes from the 15 years I spent working in an enormous brick factory building in Lowell when I worked for TYC.

It took me a while to look into the history of the buildings but eventually I found out that they were built by the Estey Organ Company sometime in the 1800's.

Today the buildings are a bit delapidated. There are relics from the past from what looks to have been a huge company in the area. Here is the factory clock that has long since stopped.


A few of the buildings house some small businesses but many are vacant.

The thing that struck me most when I first stumbled upon them was their color - a beautiful purplish, grayish, bluish mottled mix. I have driven by these buildings many times and determined that the gorgeous color came from the slate stone that was used for siding them. There were many slate quarries here in this area of New England - from the little roads around here, you often see piles of slate which must be left from when slate quarrying was a going concern.

One of the first things I thought about, upon seeing the slate up close was how beautiful one of my pieces of knitwear would look against the natural color of the slate. I have mentioned the location to different magazine editors but we are far from everywhere and frankly no magazine wants to pay a model, make-up person, photographer, etc travel time. But now that I am doing my own photography for this blog and for my PDF patterns and I have a willing model in Julia, I could take care of my photo fantasies.

Julia and I spent a good amount of time driving and walking through the complex the other day. It was freezing, there were signs all over the place for falling ice, and the complex was pretty deserted.

On the back side of the buildings, there are many different little alleys, building extensions, and courtyards.

We also discovered the Estey Organ Museum which we will have to check out this coming summer.


I found some other lovely old buildings to use as backdrops for photos including this building


and this one. I'm a sucker for old wood, weathered paint, and funky doors.


So there you have it folks - I've satisfied my yearnings for photographing something near these fabulous Estey Organ factory buildings, I can send the Christmas present off before winter is over, and I'm hoping Ruth in Australia (who doesn't have a link) will see this post because she is the reason for it.


You can buy my Quarters Cap Pattern on my website here. I've made a Crochet Flower Tutorial Video which you can watch here.

152 Lambs

It is a beautiful day here in western Massachusetts. A good day to be a sheep farmer. Should be in the 30's which is perfect - the ground won't melt and become a mucky quagmire but it's not so cold that you mind being outside. It's all about the weather here.

I love this photo of No. 10 following The Farmer across the field this morning. We are only raising two bottle lambs in the barn (and No. 84 at our house). No. 10 certainly thinks The Farmer is his Mama.


This morning we had to take care of a ewe who has a vaginal prolapse. She's a two year old and is raising a nice lamb. Unfortunately, she's got this condition which as a woman, I can only imagine how awful it is. She is stubborn as all get out and the hardest part of the whole procedure was getting her into the barn. I won't bore you with the gory details. I could but I think everyone of you would head for the hills unless you were a nurse, doctor, or used to farm life. We used this tool called a bearing retainer to push the prolapse back in. She is now out and about but we will see how she does. All I can say is I never thought I'd be doing this kind of thing early in the morning on February 4, 2010 as a young girl growing up in NJ. It's great to be alive.

Lambing is slowing down somewhat. Most of the mature ewes have already had their lambs. Today, there were two new singles born to young ewes. They both did good and seem to have natural instincts and are caring for their babies just fine.



The lambs are growing so quickly. I took some nice little portraits of sweet faces for you all this morning.


The lambs are starting to get interested in hay and continually pick around the bales and try it out.

This little guy must have eaten something considering he has a blade of hay hanging out the side of his mouth.

The sun is getting so much higher in the sky and I can actually feel winter coming closer to disappearing into spring. Soon the woods will be full of people checking their "lines" making sure everything is all set for the sap to run and sugaring to begin. I can only imagine the work that is being done at the different little sugar houses that dot the countryside. Williams Farm is opening the end of February for their annual stint of pancakes and boiling sap into syrup. It never gets old.