Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Waiting

I feel a bit of relief. My pottery orders from my Etsy Shop are all caught up. Thank you everyone for all the orders. It was amazing. I was short $20 of my self-made sales goal and for that I am very thankful - considering I haven't sold nor made pottery in over 17 years. 

The First Ever Leyden Glen Farm Open House is over. That was a huge amount of work and then there was the question of whether anyone would come and what would be the response. I am really glad that I got over my fears and decided to go for it. Sometimes I think and think about something I want to do and just put it off. Jumping in quickly with only a month to plan The First Ever Open House was the right thing to do. Now, I'm thinking about next year - what to make, how to make it better, on and on! Thanks to my friends Alicia and Deborah for doing it with me. Much easier to do when you know you aren't the only one. 

It is too late to make more pottery and have it done for the holidays although I am hoping to throw some more vases and mugs to decorate in January. Making pottery is a long process and there are many steps to it which use different parts of my brain. I like that part of it. The physical, messy part of wet clay and then the neater, more artistically challenging part of the decoration of each piece. 

The days here have been unseasonably warm and full of gray clouds and lots of fog. We are waiting for the cold to set in but it looks like it will stay warm through the holidays. With the days as short as they are, and getting shorter for a few more, it makes it tough to get much done outside. 

We are also waiting for the solstice and the lengthening days. And waiting for the holidays, time off from school for Julia, and spending time with family and friends. It is a funny time of year on our farm. Although the sheep are still grazing because of the warm weather, The Farmer isn't harvesting hay anymore. It's almost a lull before the storm. Sure, there are plenty of chores to do but he isn't running around like a crazy man quite as much as he does during harvest time. Some of the ewes are starting to look quite round and their bellies are full of babies. We are waiting for babies. The lambs should start coming in the beginning to middle of January. Then it will be busy busy busy. 

The puppies Beau and Sadie are growing like crazy. They really are turning into great dogs. They instinctively know their purpose here at the farm - guarding the sheep from the coyotes. Beau is mellow, slow and plodding with the sweetest kind and warm eyes. He reminds me so much of Winston. Sadie is always on high alert making sure everything is in place. She is the first to bark at anything. I can't help but compare their male and female personalities to humans. At least in my world, the women here at our house are always scurrying around doing something. It's that way in our dog world too. Interesting. 



Sadie making sure everything is ok. Beau sniffing around.
I took these photos last week. You can see how gray everything is. Only little bits of color once in a while. 






Beau loves to lay in the moss.



Those eyes make me melt.


I hope you all are enjoying the run-up to the holidays. Stay calm. It will all get done. XO

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Kristin, Just watched the lovely video. What a wonderful thing for your family to keep!

Auntie Shan said...

I know what you mean. The greyness is so "ugh"! But honestly, I really don't mind if it turns out to be a "green" Christmas! LESS shovelling to worry about! - Although, a "warm" winter means "heavier wet" snow, rather than "light"-weight freeze-DRIED flakes... whatever. "Relocation" of said Precipitation is *still* involved!
ugh.

Anyhoo, I'm also counting down the days until *SOLSTICE*!! Just 5 more "sleeps"!
:-D

Dianne@sheepdreams said...

Beau and Sadie look to be just a bit older than our new puppy, Shep. He's still figuring things out, but his instincts seem really good. Right now he likes being with the little angora goats best because they are more his size and so far the ewes have not been especially nice or welcoming to him!! My small group of ewes won't lamb until mid-March, so he has a little while to gain their trust.
It's been so warm here, we still have quite a bit of green grass for the sheep. It's a little weird, but does make barn chores easier. I hope you and all your family have a wonderful Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!

NotThatKindOfFarmer said...

Great article, thank you for sharing.!!

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