Spring Snow and Beau

It's officially spring and Monday afternoon into the evening, we got a good 7 inches of spring snow. It is supposed to warm up some this week so I am hoping it will melt. We haven't had much snow this past winter and the moisture is much needed. Good thing those frogs didn't lay their eggs because the little pond is frozen again. Here are some pretty photos from the day after the storm. 

Here's Beau - one of our two Great Pyrenees Guard Dogs. Isn't he a handsome boy? He and his sister Sadie are quite camera shy but I got this nice photo of him in the snow. Both of them sleep outdoors and they have the thickest, long coats now. When it got warm for a few days, they were really minding the heat. I get them sheared usually in April or May because they really hate the heat. Hopefully I will be able to get an appointment for them. When their coats are removed, they look like Yellow Labs. 

If you haven't seen this, check it out. Pluto (a Schnauzer from Canada) has a YouTube channel HERE and it sure is a good diversion. 

Hope you are all surviving and are well. Thinking of you all. 

Checking it Off the List

First off - kittens. We have a litter that are almost ready to go. All spoken for but they are so sweet. Here they are after running around like crazy things. Pitter Patter Pitter Patter Rush Around and then crash -- into a pile of fur. 

Who is going to Vogue Knitting in Minneapolis? I'm not but I know a whole bunch of people who are. Have fun everyone. 

Here are some of the last garden flowers in my studio. 

I got it done - the first draft of my new manuscript. I sent it yesterday. Yay. 

Next week is the second photo shoot. There will be re-writes too. Another photo shoot in December. Then more editing and proof-reading. Writing a book is a very long process. As I said to Mark the other night - there is a reason why not more people write books. It is a huge amount of work. The part that is very difficult is sitting there - typing and typing and not being able to do other things. But if you don't sit there and do it, it will not write itself. Like other things in life. 

I read once that Patricia Wells - the cookbook author - said of writing books - that you have to put iron shackles to get it done. And it is true - for a long while - I couldn't do anything else - it was hours and hours and days and days. Thank goodness that part is over. Although there is so much work to do. 

Here are some autumn photos I have been meaning to post. Autumn got away from me with this book thing. 

Our dirt road. With Beau. Before the leaves fell. It is cold and rainy and raw here today. Typical November day. 

Here is Beau on the 27th of October while the snow was falling. We got 3 inches. Thank goodness it is gone now. Their fur is growing  in nicely so they are plenty warm for the winter coming. 

Here are some photos of the sheep during leaf peeping. 

This one in the fog is gorgeous. 

Gorgeous day for a photo - the sheep are covered in burrs though. Ugh. 

Hope all is going well for you all. Come back tomorrow for a new book and giveaway opportunity. 

Rain + Other Tidbits

Rain. It is a beautiful thing. We have been in a drought this summer as you probably have heard. It has made gardening and farming very difficult. All over our Pioneer Valley, farmers are losing their crops because their source of irrigation has dried up. Our hay crop, which is what the sheep eat in the winter, has been incredibly slim. We are waiting to see what happens during this end of summer season. Then Mark will count the bales and figure out how many animals the crop will feed over the winter. Every morning he looks at the Drought Monitor. 

This is the first time we have experienced drought like this in our farming years. We have always felt so bad for farmers in Texas and Australia (and other places) when we hear about drought in other places. Livestock needs to be fed and drought often forces farmers and ranchers to sell much of their stock because there is no way to feed the animals. It must be heart wrenching. We are hoping we do not have to sell too many animals but only time will tell. 

Yesterday we had a very good rain. It thundered in the morning and then it poured and poured. I put a little video up on my IG account here of the rain. By the end of the day, the sun had come out. My garden - which is heavily mulched with cardboard and a very thick layer of mulch hay, perked up immediately. I think the sunflowers grew 6" in a day. This morning the fields outside our house looked a little greener. The lambs are growing very slowly this year because the grass is slim. 

Today and tomorrow are incredibly humid and way up in the 90's. I worked in the garden some until I thought I would pass out. The rest of the day was spent in the basement sewing a duvet cover for my upcoming book. Here are the colors of Kona Cotton I have chosen. It is turning out pretty. I am going to design the backing fabric and have it printed by Spoonflower. 

Beau and Sadie had their fur trimmed. They were so miserable with the heat. They look like Labs now, don't they? They just turned one year old. Boy, I hope they calm down soon because they are destructo-matics. You can see the stuffing from their dog beds in front of them on the stone. Not much is safe from them. They took up gardening last week and let's just say, they aren't very good at it. 

Pop back in tomorrow. I have something new to show you. 

Book Review by Julia - Elle and Coach + Diabetic Alert Dogs

Kristin here: My daughter Julia wanted to write a Book Review about a book she read a couple months ago. I encouraged her to write and up and tell her story. I can't believe what a good job she did. I only had to fix a couple of punctuation marks but otherwise it was perfect. Here's what she has to tell you.  

From Julia:
About a month ago, I was spending a Wednesday afternoon after school hanging out at my favorite little local library - Cushman Library, browsing around at books and movies, when something intriguing caught my eye. It was a book with white and blue binding. I picked it up off the pile and took a good long look at it. It was a book with a girl on the cover probably about my age and a very adorable regal looking dog (a labrador retriever to be precise). I read the title for the book: Elle and Coach. So I thought to myself: “Well, isn’t that adorable?” After a minute I then noticed something else that caught my eye about the book. It was the subheading below that I didn’t notice right away. It read: “Diabetes, the fight for my daughter’s life, and the dog that changed everything." I read it again. Yes, it was about diabetes. I instantly knew that it was fate that I found this book (or was it the book that found me?). (For those of you that don’t know I have been a type one diabetic for nearly twelve years now -- since I was six). 

I sat down and instantly started reading. The book is written by a woman named Stefany Shaheen, and it tells the true story of her daughter’s struggle with diabetes. I immediately felt a connection to the story and didn’t put it down for hours. Ms. Shaheen goes on to explain how a labrador retriever diabetic alert service dog came into her family’s life. The dog is named Coach, and goes anywhere and everywhere that Elle goes. High school, dance camp, out to dinner, the theater. You name it, Coach goes there. 

But Coach doesn’t just follow Elle around for support. Coach can sense when Elle is having a low or high blood sugar. He can smell the sugar in her body as it gives off a very strong chemical scent. I don’t want to ruin the whole book, but in one part, Elle is upstairs in the bathroom taking a shower with the door closed and Coach is downstairs and he suddenly starts freaking out. So Elle’s parent’s told her to test and low and behold (haha), she was LOW. The dog was right! I was astounded and wanted to keep reading.  Overall, the book was a very quick enjoyable read. 

After I finished it, I knew my time with this book was not done. I told my parents that I wanted to apply for a diabetic alert dog like Coach. Elle had gotten her dog from an organization called CARES, Inc. The organization is out of Kansas. So, I made it my mission to contact them and find out more information. I recently called CARES, and spoke with their owner Megan Llewelyn and found some resourceful information. 

I have just recently filled out my application for a service dog. I have decided that I would most like a female Golden Retriever (although, I am truly happy with any dog that could save my life). When I spoke with CARES, they told me that once my application has been processed, the waiting period is twelve to eighteen months. After that, you go to the CARES training facility in Kansas for a week long class where you meet the dog you will be potentially be taking home at the end of the week, and work with the staff to train the dog. At the end of the week, if you pass all the tests, you get to bring your dog home with you...FOREVER!! 

The Diabetic alert dogs at CARES cost an upwards of $3,500 (CARES is extremely reasonable when it comes to pricing as some organizations sell their dogs between $25,000-$50,000), plus you have to pay for your flight to and from Kansas and the cost of the food and toys for the dog. Along with vet bills, it can become a lot of responsibility. I plan on starting a Kickstarter or GoFundMe page, when I know a little more information. If any of you readers know information about these dogs, the CARES organization, or if you even own a diabetic service dog, we’d love to hear from you!

You can find out more information on CARES, or Elle and Coach by going to these resources: 

http://www.elleandcoach.com/

https://www.facebook.com/elleandcoach/

http://stefanyshaheen.com/elles-story/

https://twitter.com/elleandcoach

You can purchase the book on Amazon here and you can find more about CARES, Inc. here: http://www.caresks.com/

Additionally you can find out about diabetic service dogs: 

Healthline

Animal Health Foundation

The Bark

Thanks for reading - Julia.

p.s. From Kristin - If any of you readers have any experience with Diabetic Alert Dogs, please leave a comment on the blog of email me and julia at kristinnicholasATgmailDOTcom and juliadupreyATgmailDOT com. I am wondering if any smaller dogs might work considering Julia is a peanut (almost 5 feet tall and is frequently knocked over by our Great Pyrenees). Thanks - kn

You Know You Live in The Country When....

The other day, I was driving home from the barns after picking up Beau and Sadie from their sheep watching chores. As I traveled up the hill, I anticipated the famous Leyden Hairpin Turn. What I didn't anticipate was that it would be covered with a giant pile of manure. I wish I thought to get a photo but I was too busy trying to steer my car around it and not wipe out. 

As I traveled up the road, the manure continued and continued and continued. I started to laugh and then smile at my good fortune to be dodging piles of poop. 

Later that day, I ran into my neighbor Sid and his son Jason. They had just finished up picking up all that poop and sweeping it to the side of the road. Evidently the gate on the dump truck was loose. Sid drove along happy as could be with his load of poop. Little did he know that he was fertilizing the road, not his hay fields. 

I hope I remember that story always. 

Here are Beau and Sadie at a calm moment during our walk in the snow on Monday. They are quite a handful, to say the least. Sadie is about 90 pounds and Beau is 100. We are hoping they will grow into good Livestock Guardian Dogs. Fingers crossed. 

Do you need some Lamb for Easter this weekend? Lamb Meat-Up TONIGHT at Webs in Northampton from 5 to 6:30. More Info here. I'll be at the Amherst Winter Farmers Market on Saturday from 10 to 2. Or visit our self-serve farmstore. Directions here.  Best to call ahead to make sure we have what you need. Info here. 

Winter is Back + Beau + Sadie at the Barns

We had a brief spell of beautiful spring weather at the beginning of the week and mud season all combined. That is following the 20 below zero nights of 10 days ago. Local maple trees were tapped and the sap started to run earlier than it usually does. Last night winter returned and there was snow and ice and general messiness. The roads were pretty treacherous this morning and there was a school delay - thank goodness. 

When it rains or snows some of the sheep stay in the barn but some just tough it out in the elements. It does get real messy though and the sheep get wet and muddy. Some lambs just get dirtier than others. It is kind of comical to look at all their little faces and wonder why one is much muddier than the next. Look at the one below all the way to the left! 

It's been a while since Beau and Sadie showed up on the blog. They are 7 months old now and weigh 84 and 90 pounds. They have spent the winter here at our farmhouse, sleeping in the mudroom because for a few nights they barked all night long keeping us and the neighbors up. Pyrs are famous for barking at night - it is in their DNA and helps to keep the predators away. Our barns are 5 miles from our farmhouse and this year there are no sheep in our fields directly outside our house. Beau and Sadie haven't seen a sheep since the beginning of December. This week I have been bringing them to the barns to hang out with the sheep and lambs while morning chores are happening. At first the sheep were terrified of them. After the first day, they were not quite as leary of the dogs. Today Beau and Sadie stayed for 3 hours. Tomorrow we will try for 4 hours. 

Beau is totally laid back and comfortable at the barn. Sadie on the other hand is high-strung and pants the entire time she is there. If she wasn't tied to a fence, she would take off. They have been wandering away from our house the past week which Great Pyrs tend to do (although Winston never left). It is another great distraction for me - worrying about where they are, who is going to call me. It is very rural around here but still I worry. Next week, they are both getting fixed and I'm hoping it will help the wandering situation. Sadie is the instigator - Beau would stay put if it weren't for her.  

Julia had school vacation last week and then got sick on the last day of it. I'm not sure what is wrong with her and we have been to the doctor and he can't find anything wrong with her. So I just have to hope she gets better soon. Her immune system isn't the strongest and her diabetes complicates everything.

I'm supposed to be working on my next book project which has proved to be very difficult and frustrating this winter with my current demands of family and farm life. It is stressing me out thinking about it all. I'm hoping to get going on it more this week as long as Julia feels okay. I'm also trying to figure out what classes I am going to run here at the farm this year. I've got to get them lined up and on the website or no one will come.

I had a friend that gave me a card before Julia was born and it said "Having a family is like having a bowling alley in your head." I think of Louise and all the other mothers I know (including my mom with me and my 4 sisters) who had/have more than one child and wonder how they do it all. I can barely manage with just one child. 

Maybe tomorrow will be a sunny day and the LGD's (Livestock Guard Dogs) will settle in perfectly at the barns, there will be no lambing problems, and Julia will feel better. And I will get some work done. I can only hope. 

Have a great week everyone! 

Back Again And Life Moves On

It has been over two weeks since I last opened my laptop. Gee whiz - how awesome! I actually forgot about the keyboard! I never feel totally disconnected because of my smartphone but I did try (and quite successfully) to not look at it too much. I am now jumping back into work and on-line life with the holidays over and life back to semi normal. Most of the Christmas decorations are still up and they will stay up for at least another month. I love the twinkling lights and glitter at this dark time of the year and I see no reason to put it away as it adds much visual cheer. 

We had a nice couple of weeks. I cherish the time we get to spend time together without the interruption of Julia's school schedule. The three of us visited my mom and my sisters in NJ and Julia and I went to Boston for a quick trip. Otherwise it was low key. Farming never stops for The Farmer. He is only able to be away for 2 evenings after getting the animals all stocked up with food. He never really relaxes when he away and I know he keeps thinking about all that needs to be done to get ready for lambing. He couldn't believe that it had been a year since he last was at my mom's house. Time certainly does seem to fly by the older you get, doesn't it? 

The Christmas Holiday Season is always bittersweet for me. My Dad passed away on the Winter Solstice eleven years ago. I always dread that day. I will never forget the early morning call from my sister Jenn sobbing and crying. That Christmas was a sad one with the silver lining of having the whole family together to remember Daddy's life. I'm sure many of you have had similar experiences around the holidays losing loved ones. There was an article in the WSJ about this same subject. This December, we lost two dear family and farm friends and we still are adjusting to thinking about life without them on the earth. 

We had an ice and snow storm shortly after Christmas. I am still hacking away a path through the thick ice. Now we are in a deep freeze. It is "pipe freezing weather" and "lamb killing weather". I know - most of you probably don't think of these things but that is the gist of the general conversation when you live on a farm - the weather - the animals - and what is for supper. Luckily, most of the lambs are not due for a week or so. We have had 4 so far and when I get a chance, I will post some photos. I have light bulbs next to the the pipes in the kitchen which always seems to help. We have been hauling wood for the furnace but it is still chilly in the house. Good thing for wool sweaters and hats. 

Boy oh boy, I just re-read this post and it sounds like such a bummer and downer. I do not mean to sound that way and try to keep this place happy and upbeat but life is not all wine and roses. Sometimes it is best for me to share the good with the bad so that many of you reading who live in different places and dream of living a beautifully bucolic farm life, don't get the wrong impression of perfect life on the farm. Frankly, life is not perfect on a farm - just like it isn't perfect where you live. We are all faced with challenges, heartaches, sickness, death mixed amongst the happiness. On a farm it swings greatly between the two emotions of joy and sadness more frequently. 

On the 23rd, we lost our dear Border Collie Nessie to cancer. She was 10 1/2 years old and was the hardest working dog we have ever had. We miss her constantly. I keep saying to Kate - "Are you ready to be in charge? Ready to be top dog?" She looks at me with the most quizzical look.

Ness on our last walk through the fields on December 18th

The fact of the matter is I have seen a distinct change in Kate the past couple weeks without Nessie being around. At first she was trying to figure out where Nessie had gone. Then she realized that she doesn't have to fight at the food bowl anymore because Nessie was always laying next to it guarding it. She is more in tune with The Farmer's every move. She is always waiting for him to go outside to go to see the sheep. She used to love to ride in the car when Julia and I were out and about doing errands. Not now - she is all business just waiting to hop in the truck and go with him to do chores. Try as I might last night, she would not hop in and ride with Julia and me. 

Kate has been The Farmer's main working dog this fall because Ness was failing. She has a long ways to go and still scatters the sheep in the wrong direction at times. I think as she matures more and hangs around the sheep at the barn she should hopefully figure it all out. She is incredibly agile and quick and very sweet. During the winter, there is no herding or moving to be done because the sheep are all tucked into the barns. 

We will have to think about getting another Border Collie puppy soon. We have not been without two dogs in the house in over 30 years. I am missing the routine of having two dogs in the house with us daily. We have lost 3 dogs in the last 13 months - Phoebe, Winston, and Ness. Boy oh boy. You love them so much and then they are gone. And then you miss them and think about them every day. I call their names out of habit and then realize they are not here anymore.  

The LGD puppies Beau and Sadie are doing great outside. They are getting huge! They definitely know their place and reason for being on this earth - to guard the sheep and our family. There has been a lot more barking during the dark evening hours which is what they should be doing. Their coats are so thick and curly and beautiful. They still are not doing too good in the "not jumping on people department." Shoveling snow and ice and gathering firewood is one of their favorite activities. 

As Garrison Keillor says, "That's the news from Leyden Glen Farm today...." I'm not much for Year in Review Posts nor New Year Resolutions. It's best for me to just jump back in where I left off and start organizing what needs to be done. The photos in this post were taken on December 18th and I have not wanted to download them onto my computer to look at them until now knowing that this was the last nice walk I took with Ness. 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to sharing lots with you this 2016. 

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

Autumn Colors + An Update

This week it has been pretty dreary - cold and wet and gray and fogged in most of the time. That has been good for my work because I have been super busy making things for the upcoming Open House on December 5/6. I'll be back with more information on that at the beginning of next week. My friends and I that are doing this together are having a planning session tomorrow. 

Above are 4 bowls that are painted with underglaze. They will not look like this when they are finished - the colors will be much brighter once the gloss glaze goes on. 

Having the puppies Beau and Sadie is a lot of fun. They take their walk seriously and always end it with a dip in a little spring fed puddle/pond in the pasture. They are getting so big - bigger than Kate and Ness, the Border Collies. I don't know how much they weigh but it has got to be close to 50 pounds each. 

The Collies are not very friendly to the Gt Pyrenees puppies. So far, it has been impossible to get them in a photo together. But we all take our walk together and I love watching the different personalities and antics of each breed. 

Before the memories of autumn color slip away, I wanted to share some of the beauty that I've found inspiring in nature in our pastures and on our road. 

Have a great day everyone!