Sunshine Kitty

Sometimes the fates just decide to gang up on you. The best thing you can do at a time like this is to go with the flow and follow the kitty above, sit in the sunshine and wait it out!

Yesterday we decided to take a mini family trip to Moncton which is only about 90 minutes away. I like shopping there, it is different than home in that they are a bit more European in their clothing tastes and if they swear at you it is usually in French and you can choose to pretend that they are being friendly. Also they have lower taxes there.

That is a big one so as we began our travels David looks at the gas gauge which has been finicky lately, dancing like a child with an urgent need to visit a restroom, and decided that it looked like it would be sufficient to get us to the New Brunswick border.

Any parent with children knows what happens when you push a toddler beyond their urinary tract capabilities.

So about 45 minutes into our journey the truck sputters once and proceeds ever so nicely to stop running. The momentum of our trip over the Cobequid Highlands now coming to a complete and shocking halt. David coaxed it into starting again and we quickly realized our error in judgement and made a quick u turn and headed for home.

Alas, it was not to be. Several 100 metres later we are sitting quietly in our truck allowing gravity to propel us down one Easterly side of the Cobequid Pass until inertia could now longer aid us and we pull over silently to the shoulder.

It is amazing to watch a grown man in the throes of disbelief as he continually attempts to start the truck. Each time the ignition fails to turn over the level of hysteria that my children exhibit increases exponentially. It was as if someone remove their reason for living.

Stuck on the side of the highway on a gorgeous sunny day with the view of the Bay of Fundy below us and they panic.

Had I been a cat I am quite sure I would have curled up in the back, let the sunshine warm my body and had a well deserved snooze. That is if I could have drowned out the persistent tap tap tap of David as he tried frantically to call someone.

Surprise surprise...no one is in their homes on the first stunningly gorgeous day of the year!

Eventually a friend of ours that we buy hay from came to our rescue and we were soon on our way to New Brunswick, where Dave wasted no time splurging and filling the gas guzzling tank of our petroleum sucking transportation device.

Yes it was a great day!!!

Spring has Sprung

I had to post this little fellow today. He is the first one of the season and so I feel he must be celebrated. His presence heralds the coming of summer.

I know everyone here hates the Dandylion but I personaly adore them. They are a bright beautiful happy colour and they are the first sign of life after a long and often brutal winter. My neighbor must love them too as his lawn becomes the most vivid shade of yellow as these blooms block out all versions of green on his property.

You have to give these guys credit. They have tenacity and no matter how low you set your mower blades they have a flexibility that an olympic gymnastic would envy as each swath of our machine leaves perfectly aligned rows of freshly turned up sod and bent blades. As each survivor pops up unscathed after each pass it has you wondering if trying to kill them is even worth it. My sheep love to eat them and although I am loath to set them free anywhere near my flower beds I have to admit being kind to the ovis on site has a certian appeal to it.

Dandylions seem to be the scourge of any gardener and I will admit to forming a downright hostlitiy to them shortly after the honeymoon period is finished but I still like their bright colours. It is hard to maintain a grudge against something that always seems to be smiling.

Run over by a vehicle (any sort will do ) and what is the response from this chipper flower 'What? Did I miss something?"

Trod upon by any life form including my horse and even if it is partially mangled it will rise on twisted stem to gaily shout, "s'ok, I'm fine. Did I miss anything?"

My son has taken to using my dressage whips on them. It seems the slender flexible whip lends itself to a slicing motion that neatly removes the blossoms from their stems. Connor receives a great amount of joy from watching them take flight through the air. The drawback is that the closest kin to the fallen always seems to sprout up instanteously asking

"Whats up?"

So here is my motto for the summer. Compromise. When those busy bobbins of vegetative profusion pop up amoung my carefully groomed blades of green I will smile and enjoy the moment.

Then leave David to do all the weeding!

Have a blooming great spring.

Bad Girls and Good Boys

Muffin
(3/4 Blue Face Leicester X Clun Forest ewe lamb)

Spring has sprung and now that all my ewes have lambed out I get to sit back and enjoy them growing at an exponential rate. They go through grain in a similar fashion to my teenagers. I seem to be making regular trips to the feed/grocery store to keep the growing brood well nourished.

The above young lady is my only ewe lamb this year and her name is "Muffin". My daughters choice in names not mine and I will guarantee you will not have a "muffin top" if you plan to catch her! She is out of my best ewe Eve (Clun Forest X Blue Faced Leicester) and by a Blue Faced Leicester ram. Her brother Myles is my fav as he takes after his dad in every way. He loves attention and regularly follows you around until you finally stop to scratch his back. His sister is the opposite watching with wary eyes until you drop the feed and leave. I suppose that means she will survive all manner of attack but seriously...my only ewe lamb???!!!!

Those long legs are made for running and those big eyes are made for for watching and although I call her all forms of brain dead there is definitely enough synaptic processes going on to outwit, out maneuver and out run Anna and I. Catching Muffin is some what like roping the wind. Her tractability definitely comes from her mother who delights in playing human bowling with my kneecaps each day. Considering she weighs in the area of 200lbs her presence does not go unnoticed. I only hope the bruising will be gone by summer so I will not have to sport multi coloured legs in 30 degree heat!

Anna has decided that showing Benny her Purebred Clun Forest Ram would be a much more enjoyable experience!

The only way Muffin seems to get caught lately is when Connor takes the camera out. He did a fine job of taking only photos and leaving only footprints....his and Muffins always lead in opposite directions!

As the saying goes, "the good die young" so I am resigned to the fact that Muffin will be here for a VERY long time. At least she won't want to become a house pet like Rex the rooster!

The Insulator-photo-Connor Fullerton

I get the biggest charge out of kids. If you leave them alone to be their own individuals and let them speak freely it is truly amazing the things that come out of their mouths.

My son is a prime example. Like any other 13 year male version of the species he has entered that phase of his life I call "slothdom". There is a trail of belongings that if he were to get lost would help any searcher find him in a nanosecond. His own ability to recognize his belongings and to relocate them to a more suitable environment aka his bedroom seems to be a learned response. One he has yet to master and no amount of coaxing, bribing, blackmail or screeching seems to affect his ability to retain this knowledge.

I went into his room to say goodnight and there in the middle of the floor sat an empty laundry basket. Surrounding it like a massive body of water was a variety of discarded clothing. Realizing that the vast area covering the floor was too large to navigate I waded through it. All manner of crunching and cracking was heard as bits of Lord knows what hidden in his pockets was broken. I am sure it will filter out in the washing machine.

I watched my son for a moment before reprimanding him about this Island in his room and the fact that the basket appeared not to be inhabited by any soiled clothing. Without blinking an eye he stared back at me and stated

"Its art Mom."

Seriously, how am I supposed to remain all "Mom faced" after a line like that????

After the giggles stopped I told him that it appeared to be performance art and the performance was over. Clean up the stage.

This morning the island is slightly inhabited and the waters are receding but it still requires a master mariner to make it from his door to his bed without trodding upon some sort of debris!

Connor is learning how to become a photographer and doing quite a fine job of it. The above photo is his attempt to use the evening sun to illuminate an old glass insulator. I must say that this is what I had in mind when he said, "It's art Mom."

Grey Puss 3x5 Oil Portrait Sold

On those rare moments when I get a few seconds to myself I enjoy the studio. It is like a cool drink of water while stranded in the desert. Someday I will have more than a few seconds to spend at the easel and this blog will return to its former glory of a daily posting.

The above painting is one third of a trio. All three pusses are very different in appearance and it should be a really neat series when completed.

That is if I can keep the owner from crying.

I was warned. I didn't beleive it would happen and I was unprepared. I rummaged in my pockets for a tissue and realized that all I had to offer was a fewballed up used ones. Realizing that would not be a classy gesture I scooted out of the room and returned when she found nicer tissues than I could supply!

My people skills need work and my pockets have been cleaned out.

Next time I present her with another painting I will be bringing a box of Kleenex with me!

Precious' Boys (Rideau Arcott x Blue Face Leisceister)

It has been a busy spring. All my ewes have successfully lambed out and Precious my favorite ewe produced twins. Or so my daughter thought when she came racing into the house to phone me. When I got home and saw the third bundle of joy I began to wonder about the value of her mathematical education!

Roger, Garnet and Floppy are quite the characters. Floppy was born a bit weak legged (hence the name) as one would expect considering how much lamb Precious crammed into her uterus. If you doubt me look at the above picture. Here are the boys and they are not even 24 hours old yet! My hat is off to Precious, but not too long, it is cool in the mornings here!

Yes they are wearing wool coats. Some of my non animal friends questioned me on this and secretly wondered if I had lost it. Most people would probably agree that dressing farm animals up would be a foolish pastime but for this woman it is the easiest and cheapest way to ensure your lambs survive.

Believe it or not a new born lamb is born with very little in the way of fleece. Our winters/springs can be pretty brutal here especially if you have just left the warm comfy confines of your mother and are exposed to the harsh realities of a -20 degree windchill with a snow bank for a bed!

An old wool blanket (trust me the irony of it is not lost on me!) is easily sewn into a little lamb sweater and voila, instant warmth and skyrocketing survival rates. No heat lamps and it is all chemical free. No sheep were harmed in the making of these blankets and another generation of lamb gets to bound joyfully through green pastures.

For those of you who don't believe me try it. I have a friend who has been a Shepard all her life and she blankets everyone of her Romney lambs. She told me she hasn't used a heat lamp in over 20 years. Considering we lost our chicken shed to a heat lamp I was thrilled to try out the blankets and trust me when I say I have never looked back.

Now all I have to do is find a way to put them on my day old chicks!

The Dawning of a New Day
(Clun Forest x Blue Face Leiscester)

Future Star
(Clun Forest x Blue Face Leiscester Ram)

The Future is Great
(Benny - Purebred Clun Forest Ram Lamb)

I love my family. I feel sorry for people who don't love theirs.

My family has informed me that I have been lax of late in filling the quota of amusing tales of life around me. As you can see my girls and I have been busy and someday I will write a book about it but for now you will have to bear with me while I stumble along.

There are paintings on the easel, chicks on order, lambs bounding about and of course family to deal with! My astrology claims that after Venus leaves my sector things will improve.

He's a bit behind the times! Things are improving.... rapidly. Too rapidly for this domestic Goddess to keep up with.

I have learned that while I am pretty special, time will not stop upon my whim and so I have to adjust my needs to what a mortal woman can accomplish in a 24 hour time span. Doesn't seem particularly fair. Father Time is ignoring my requests for a delay or extension in regards to the amount of available minutes a human can productively create in. That is soooooo not fitting in my plans.

The only thing that makes me feel somewhat better is that Einstein, Da Vinci and Edison all had the same constraints.

And I'm a woman...aren't we supposed to be more efficient???? LOL

Have a great day and stayed tuned!