One of These Things

We've been playing a lot of "One of These Things Is Not Like the Other" for the last week or so.  With the heavy snowfalls and the apparently inherent 'es-capability' of hoggets, there has been an on-going game of musical pastures.  Each morning at feeding time everyone is moved back to their appointed pasture, and the next morning everyone is back in the barn paddock.  This wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing except for the varying nutritional needs of the different groups.  We didn't really have the time or energy to discover and repair the escape routes before the next round of snow began.  So for now... musical pastures it is :)

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a single moment from the week
A simple, special extraordinary moment.
A moment to pause, savor and remember.
Participating with the SouleMama blog.

Scenes From the Pasture

Sub-zero temperatures, mounting snow pack and strong winds have all made winter chores much more difficult.
We've tried to take a few moments here and there and capture the beauty of these days of 'snow globe weather'.
Here are just a few scenes from the pasture...

Choose a Hogget

Butterfly Bush

We have a new shipment of hogget millspun due to arrive any day, so we are continuing our little Christmas in July theme with a Hogget Millspun Giveaway.  Simply comment on this blog post with the name of the yarn that you would like to win! 
Just in case you want to spoil yourself a little, we are continuing our Free Shipping - Promo Code SHIP4FREE in our Etsy Shop and also our Gift Shop!
Update: Comments are closed.  A winner will be announced shortly!

Heart and Soul

Neon Wow

Sunrise

Spring Shearing

Saturday brought beautiful spring weather for shearing.  Everyone waited patiently for their turn with the shearer.

We are so grateful to all of our helpers.  Joe and Melvin were fabulous as always. 

And, of course, as usually happens in March, one beautiful day was followed by a blustery snowstorm moving in Sunday afternoon.  It didn't have much affect on the crowd at the feeders.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a single moment from the week

A simple, special extraordinary moment.

A moment to pause, savor and remember.

Participating with the SouleMama blog

Much of the Same

This post has been in the works all week, and we've really struggled to get it done.  We had one almost spring-like day, but much of the week has looked like this.  Much like Bella, we've been plodding along.  The bred ewes are devouring 200 - 250 pounds of hay a day, cleaning up every last, little bit.  The hogget ewes are growing out and have been very entertaining of late when we arrive to feed.  Running through the snow, jumping up and down, they bring a smile and sometimes we can't help but laugh out loud.  And, of course that brings us to the barn cats.  They are always eager to provide entertainment.   The latest toy has been a discarded box that has received so much cat love, we're reluctant to throw it away.
Hope you're having a wonderful morning, and not digging out from under too much snow.

joining Rurality Blog Hop

It's a Give-Away!




Calico Hogget 2-Ply Millspun

Heart and Soul Hogget 2-Ply Millspun

Jimi Hogget 2-Ply Millspun

Purple Rain Hogget 2-Ply Millspun

Sunshine Lollipop Hogget 2-Ply Millspun

Spring Maple Longwool 2-Ply Millspun

If you could not attend our Open House on Sunday, here's your chance to get your hands on some of our millspun yarn.  We decided to give away a skein of our hand-dyed!  They are all 100% wool from our wonderful flock, sent away to a woolen mill to be spun.  You can read more about the yarn by following the link below each photo.  To enter the give-away simply comment on today's post, and let us know which one is your favorite.  Comments will be closed on Sunday at 8 a.m. and the winner chosen by Random Number Generator.  Good Luck!

Comments are closed.  Thanks to all who commented.  A winner will be chosen shortly.

And the winner is.... #9 wee whimsicals!  Many thanks to those who commented.

Check back we will have another give-away soon.

While We Were Walking

Don't think for a moment that the Moving into March walk went unnoticed by the farm dwellers.  They definitely recognize when there is anything out of the ordinary, and are never at a loss for words. 

"I think you are going the wrong way!"

"We ran all the way down here... we thought you were bringing the hay!"

"What are you doing down there?"

"We've been up and down this hill four times.  Aren't you finished taking pictures?"

"You better be coming up out of there with hay!"

"Don't make me come down there and get you!"

The Hoggets

The hoggets - the not lambs anymore, not yet yearlings - are really growing out nicely.  They are a very pretty group of young ladies.

We were lucky this year and had no breeding accidents involving the lambs, so they are all spending their days in a carefree manner, doing nothing more than growing strong bodies and beautiful wool.

Some of them are catching up with Bella (last year's 4-H market lamb) which is very pleasing.  Bella (below left) is a Hampshire - Suffolk cross, a meat breed, bred to grow faster.  We are really pleased that many of our wool breeds are pretty close to her in size.  She is very beefy but her wool is only about 1 1/2 inches long while the other breeds' wool have grown 3 inches or more.

And these faces... oh my... they are so lovely... we could watch them all day long.

Good Morning from the Hoggets