Life, Spring + Upcoming Things Including MarlyBird Podcast LIVE

Last year, I planted two new varieties of daffodils on top of the graves for our farm dogs Winston and Phoebe. They are blooming now and I'm enjoying them on my kitchen windowsill. I've made this a tradition, marking the spot where our loyal dogs lay. It makes me think of them each year as the daffodils bloom. I would love to have tulips but the deer and sheep would eat them so I don't waste my money. The nice thing about daffodils is that they spread and live for several years. 

There is a lot of color popping up in my garden. I mean to document it but life has been busy. 

Two weekends ago, I took an on-line class called Pattern Camp with Jessica Swift. It was a great class on designing patterns using both Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I did it all in one weekend but now need to go back and re-take the lessons so I don't forget. Jessica is a great teacher and was available all weekend long. There is also a closed Facebook group where she answers questions and you can get help from other students. The videos are available for one month and there are some PDFs that you have access to forever. If you are interested in designing patterns and know these two programs, you might want to give it a go too. Here is one of the half drop repeats I made. 

It's a sure sign of spring here in western Massachusetts when the Farmers Markets begin again. Yesterday I spent the day in Northampton at the Tuesday Market. It was rainy and freezing cold and needless to say the people weren't flocking to buy frozen meat. Thank goodness for lots of wool - long underwear, gloves, hat and scarves. There is always next week. 

I'm very sad about the local peach crop this year. It seems that the buds were destroyed. From what I understand, the peach trees hadn't gone dormant because of the warm December/January weather and when we had a deep freeze in February, it killed all the buds which had already started forming. I guess we will have to eat Georgia peaches instead of local peaches.  

I have finished doing the base coats on the bedroom I am re-doing for my upcoming book Crafting A Patterned Home. I love the colors. I used a gold for most of the room, bright yellow for the closet doors, and a pretty green for the east wall where the sun rises. Now for the fun part. To plan it, I have cut out some sunflower shapes and taped them to the wall to make sure I like the scale and feeling of the design. 

Many years ago, I stayed at a beautiful little hotel in Portland, Maine called The Pomegranate Inn. The bedroom I stayed in had hand-painted walls that gave the feeling of wallpaper. At that point, I didn't have a digital camera or a phone so I had the idea just floating in my head. I did find that the hotel is still in business (but with new owners) and there are photos of the rooms. I think that they have been re-done since I was there but they are quite beautiful and an inspiration. Here is one which is quite pretty. 

Room at the Pomegranate Inn in Portland, ME

I've put some more photos on my Pinterest Board here. I've been using Pinterest to collect ideas for the book. I can see how people get addicted to it. I can also see that people can spend a whole lot of time on it. I have avoided Pinterest for years and thought that I should probably see what it is all about considering I am still blogging and it generates traffic for my blog and website. I am a slow adaptor of things for sure. There is only so much time in the day. This is a link to all my Pinterest boards if you are interested in following me. There is also a link on my right sidebar. 

Tomorrow I am going to be on the Marly Bird Podcast. It is a live show (noon Eastern time, 10 a.m. Mountain Time) and there will be prizes that I will give away. You can also listen to the podcast later and still win the prizes. Marly is so much fun and I look forward to the conversation. You can listen live and call in to chat with me. The Listener dial-in number is (347)539-5589. 

You will be able to listen to the conversation later. This is the link to the taped show.  

The WEBS Annual Fleece and Tent Sale is Saturday May 14th. I will be selling our farm raised lamb and my books. Here is the link for more info.  The Tent Sale continues on Sunday but no me or fleeces. Hope to meet some of you in Northampton on the 14th. 

The first Brimfield Flea Market of the year is May 10 to 15. Check it out here. I'm going for sure - just not sure what day. Hope to find some new things for my book project. 

Hope you all are enjoying spring!

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

Puppies, A Routine + Save The Date!

First off - More exciting news from the farm today. At least for me. We are throwing an "Open House/Open Farm" two day event. We are just in the planning stages but I'm joining together with a couple of local friends to do this thing. I'm a bit scared and trepidatious but we are giving it a go. Julia is convinced noone will come. I hope she is wrong.

Dates: December 5/6, 2015
Mark your calendar, get in your car, come to the farm, buy some art, books, pottery, + ethnic textiles and jewelry. Visit the sheep and the puppies. Buy some lamb for a special holiday meal. 
How does that sound? 
More on the event coming soon. 
Here are the directions to our farm if you are curious.

Oh boy - Autumn is almost over here. The leaves are pretty much on the ground and the architecture of the trees is back in the landscape. Today is an incredibly foggy and misty and drizzly day and although it is warm, I can't even see the sheep out in the pasture. 

Yesterday though - it was incredibly gorgeous. Sunny and in the 70's. I took the opportunity to be outside a bit and it was glorious. It is part of the daily routine here to take the puppies Beau and Sadie and the Border Collies Ness and Kate for a walk in the orchard. This is part of the training process for the Gt Pyrenees Livestock Guard Dogs (LGD for short). We walk the perimeter of the fences so they know what they "own" and need to protect. 

The puppies are growing like weeds. They are in the teenage stage. You can see their muscles growing under their saggy skin. They are fast, curious, and are loving eating disgusting things. Typical farm dogs. 

There are some patches of moss at the bottom of one of the pastures. 

It grows in large drifts and Beau and Sadie rush to it, lie down on it and roll around on it. So cute. They know every patch of it in the pasture. It must be like a giant mattress for them.

People have asked me about the training of the LGD's. Besides the walking the fencelines, there isn't much training involved - except for trying to keep them from jumping which is a losing battle right now. Their instincts are amazing. They already know their territory. I suppose they smell Winston's trails and scent. Maybe he is guiding them as they take over his job and territory. Although we have had them fenced in, trying to keep them safe, they have now learned how to climb out of the picket fence (Gt Pyrs are climbers if you can believe it). There is no keeping them in. When we wake up in the morning, they are usually out in the sheep pasture sniffing around and eating poop. 

The two personalities of these puppies is starting to come out. Beau is more attentive to me and reminds me of Winston. He is a little slower and will actually look at me if I call him. Sadie on the other hand is all business, up to her own antics and could care less about me. 

Sadie venturing off on her own

Beau has the sweetest face and look

Kate and Ness, the Border Collies, want nothing to do with the puppies. Ness is frequently nipping at the puppies, helping her retain her top dog position in the pack. Kate is frequently gone now - doing chores with The Farmer. Her sheep herding skills are really improving and she is being a real help. Nessie just can't keep up anymore. We can't remember how old she is but she has got to be at least 10 and she has worked very hard. She has earned her position on the comfy couch. 

For a month or so, we have only had 6 sheep in the pastures at our house. And then there were 5, and then 4, and then 3. The coyotes were eating well when Winston was not feeling well. We haven't lost a sheep in about a month - do not know if the coyotes have moved on to someone else's animals or if it is because the puppies are here. This week we moved 16 ewes back and we'll see what happens. 

I love having them back because it makes the pastures more alive and makes this place feel more like the farm it is. The rest of the ewes and rams are still grazing in other locations but it will be over soon. Winter will come, the grass will stop growing and they will go back to their winter barn and we will wait for lambs in January. 

 

The puppies were raised in a barn with sheep. When the sheep arrived, they were not the least bit interested in chasing. They just kind of settled in with them although I'm not sure the sheep were too comfortable with the new puppies. Their enthusiasm is boundless as captured in these two photos. I wish I could bottle it. 

Beau

Sadie

We all are settling in as a newly minted farm family. Our farm dogs are such a part of our lives. We all have a job to do and it feels great that Beau and Sadie seem to already know their position and job here at the farm. Winston must have had a good talk with them before he left them. 

Big News! We're in Yankee Magazine

Big news from here on the farm. We just received the November/December issue of Yankee Magazine. And there we are on 7 beautiful colorful pages. 

The article written by Julia Quinn-Szcesuil begins..... "Inside the colorful world of designer Kristin Nicholas.....". The article is about our home at Christmas and the different ways we celebrate the holidays. It also tells about the back-story of our family. Julia did an amazing job. The photos are by the talented (and incredibly nice) Joe Keller. Check out his website - he is an amazing photographer. 

The folks from Yankee were here for 2 days. There was a crew of 6 if you can believe it. They took thousands of photos. And at least 7 cover tries. Here is a photo of Mark, Winston and I taken by the photographer's assistant. 

Here is Mark with the sheep and the photographer. The Border Collies dogs are somewhere there and you can see Winston. 

If you aren't from New England, you probably don't know about Yankee Magazine. It is a regional publication that comes out 6 times a year. They have been in business for 80 years. They are also the publisher of The Farmer's Almanac. Their focus is to tell stories about New England and the people who live here. It is a big favorite within the region and also with folks who like to visit here or have sadly had to move away from the region. We have already had numerous people at the Farmers Markets say they saw the article. Pretty cool! This is a real honor to be included in Yankee Magazine. I'm right up there with illustrator and author Susan Branch -- her home was featured a couple years ago. You can read that article here. 

Thank you to Amy Traverso and all the fine people at Yankee Magazine. BTW, Yankee was just featured in the NY Times. You can read that article here. 

I'm off to the Tuesday Market in Northampton today. Only 2 more markets left this season behind Thorne's Marketplace Stop by if you are local and say hi.