Simple Gifts

What an incredibly gorgeous day it was today!

Relaxing in the afternoon sunshine.
Simple Gift!!

Late this afternoon as I was feeding grain to everyone on the farm, I began softly humming and then singing, Simple Gifts by Joseph Brackett, 1792-1882. It just seemed so fitting.

Horses happy there hasn't been a frost yet.
Simple Gift from Mother Nature.  (smiles)

The sun was warm and casting beautiful shadows on the fields, all the animals were calm and relaxing in the waning hours of that warmth, and I was feeling very fortunate to live in this awesome country.

Voyager happy to be in with the horses.
Such a Simple Gift to give.

After feeding everyone, instead of just sitting outside on the gate and watching them eat, I decided to run in and get the camera.  The pictures don't capture how beautiful it was, but I wanted to share them with you anyhow, and also the words to a song I really love. The tune is well known....sometimes I sing Lord of the Dance lyrics, but other times these that I've included below:

I opened the gate to back field.....
now everyone is going to be happy for a while.
It's those Simple Gifts that make life good!

  'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,   'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be.

Sedona's Simple Gift is access to the back field.
She's not as heavy as she looks there.

    And when we find ourselves in the place just right,    'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Walking back through the field closer to home.
Imax can be seen at the fence guarding the yard!
A Simple Gift for me is to live in this great Country.

  'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be fair, 'Tis the gift to wake and breathe the morning air.

Zoom in on SweetPea through the trees.
Her Simple Gift is new extension to run-in shelter.

       And each day as we walk on the path we choose,  'Tis a gift we pray we shall never lose.

Sera looking through the extension on the run-in.
I need to finish painting and fully enclosing it.
That will be my Simple Gift to her.

                          Don't forget to take time to appreciate all the Simple Gifts in your life!

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Cast iron dinner bell!

Last year, a very dear friend of mine was cleaning out her barn and endowed me with her cast iron llama dinner bell. I couldn’t believe it; it was so beautiful!  I brought it home and couldn’t wait to hang it.  

I was nervous to hang it outside because although it should be weather proof (to some degree), the weather at our farm is pretty severe at times. Every weather condition that takes place throughout the county just seems 10x more intense here.  J

So, I began to scout out a place on the farm where I could enjoy and see it, but also where it would be somewhat protected from the elements.  All the while that I was looking for the perfect spot, never once did anyone suggest we mount it where the animals could hear it ring! J

While sneaking into the barn, I think I've been heard!

Feeding at my farm rarely entails much coaxing of the animals to partake.  I try to sneak out and get buckets filled and flakes of hay distributed before all the thundering of several tons of animal come galloping, leaping, and scampering to meet me.

I can't tell if he heard the camera click
or actually heard the barn door creak!!

I have found that it’s very difficult to be “sneaky” with a headlamp on! The spotlight beckons, “COME!” 

I keep the barn doors well greased so that they don’t squeak and give my whereabouts away. The thing about horses---they can be ¼ mile away and hear that barn door and come galloping up before I can get food ready.

Jenna isn't waiting anymore, she's going to go check out the noise.
She's certain she saw me head to the barn.

So, I try to get out to the barn, close the gates around the barn undetected, and THEN open the barn doors.

Summer feeding is different from winter feeding at our farm for all the animals to some extent. We have SO MUCH grass, and our fields are so lush that the grain quantity I offer to everyone tapers off substantially during the summer. Overfeeding in the summer causes as many problems as underfeeding in the winter. Because all situations are different, I won’t even suggest that what I do is perfect; however, it does work for my farm.  

Song is still listening to the Sheep get their food.
She knows it's her time next!

BUT, when the days grow shorter, and the fields lose their nutrient capabilities, the assisted feedings become more important. Those feedings are usually done in the morning and afternoon when the sun’s warmth is not so prevalent….so I wear my “barn jacket”. Through the years, my barn jacket has become synonymous with “DINNER TIME!” at the farm.  It doesn’t matter which animal sees me first, he/she will start running…..  and soon, they are ALL running back to the paddock nearest the house.

Silver is excited that the buckets are now making their way to her paddock.
She's just not sure she likes the look of a camera up at my face.

When my daughters head outside, without me, with their own barn jackets on, it doesn’t create the same effect. We never really had noticed that until on one occasion one had grabbed my jacket as a quick throw on. She hadn’t gotten more than 10 paces off the back deck before all the animals had broken into a full gallop to come up for “DINNER TIME!”.  We have apples and pears on a few of the trees nearest that fence line for just that occasion!  J 

Everyone deciding that life is good.

Meal time at the farm is an important part of animal care. During the time they are eating, you can look them over, evaluate their chewing capabilities, look at feet/hooves, check for ticks, look for scrapes/cuts, remove brambles, and know which one will have to stay behind after meal time to be checked out further. 

Song and Silver are wondering, "is there more where that came from?"

I don’t feed my farm all at once.  It’s too impossible.  I feed one group of animals at a time so that I can spend time with everyone. Believe it or not, everyone is patient. They weren’t always that way, but through the years, they have learned that I will get to everyone eventually.

Decided to check out the treat bucket for herself

In the winter when morning lights and heat get turned on, the horses whinny and sheep begin to baa in anticipation of the morning feeding. As much as I’d like to stay inside and grab a cup of tea first, I usually throw on my coat and head to the barn.

Dinner Bell not yet mounted.

So, as much as I’d like to actually ring the dinner bell and watch all the animals come, at this point in time, the dinner bell will just be for my enjoyment!  And enjoy it, I do!!  J

2015 Farm Calendars have Arrived!

I am so excited!! My 2015 calendars of the farm have arrived from the printers today.

Calendar Cover

I have worked on this project for over a year.  Every time I thought I’d had the photos for each month just the way I wanted them, a more perfect picture, even more fitting than the last, would present itself.  For instance, I thought I had the most perfect shot for OCTOBER’S main photo.  But, on a heavy foggy morning while I was out photographing the farm, I caught a glimpse of the horses through the gates rungs that just happened to have a spider web laden with dew, hanging there.  The mood was perfect for October.  So, OCTOBER it was!

Calendar Back with all months shown

Another similar instance was for January.  I had a taken a beautiful photo of the pond totally iced over.  It was at dusk and the glow was reflecting back.  I thought it was perfect; however, friends and family felt it was a little “cold” to start the year off, so instead Imax (our yard llama) is the pin-up for January!

Similarly for December, I had chosen a photograph of a scarf that had been knitted from the spun lamb fleece of one of our favorite sheep (Yerba).  Again, friends and family said even though the photo was gorgeous they hoped to end the year with one more glance at life on the farm and home to so many animals.  I looked and looked through literally hundreds of photographs from this year trying to match what I thought suited DECEMBER and what would still please my “critics”!  As luck would have it, we had a fluke storm in late winter and the snow fell at blizzard rate.  I could barely see outside more than 25 feet away.  That must have been all I needed.  I caught a wonderful photo of so many cardinals (male and female) at one of our feeders at a backyard crabapple tree not far from the house.  I opened the dining room window and took the shot from there, so as not to scare them away and to prevent my lens from fogging up.

December's main photo

I designed the calendar for people who are interested in life out-of-doors.  While each month has a large pin-up 8 x 10 size photograph up above, down below in the actual days/date part there are gardening tips, odd facts about moon phases, holidays, random animal trivia, and wonderful small photographs of life on the farm during that particular four weeks.

April's date/day 

April features trivia on the native shrubs and trees that begin to grace the landscape across the bluegrass region of Kentucky and also the mid-region of our Country. The Full Pink Moon is in early April.  The small photos include Victorian hollow peek-a-boo sugar Easter eggs that I make to sell that time of year, daffodils, Scottish Shortbread that HeartFelt Baskets & Gifts also makes, as well as Sweet Pea, Dolly Llama, and some of Dolly's roving.



For example in February, we not only have Ground Hog’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Ash Wednesday, and Presidents’ Day, but we also have the Full Snow Moon,  and reminders to sharpen pruning tools, clean nesting boxes, and make homemade bird treats.  The small photos include some chocolate covered strawberries that I made as well as cardinals and bunnies sharing bird seed under one of our feeders!

A typical month's date/day calendar inside

March includes Pi-Day 3.14 (Pie Day on March 14th) as well as a Daylight Savings reminder. Lots of gardening tips as well as a small photo of one of the Wool Wreaths that I make, adorned with a green burlap bow and felted Shamrock in honor of Saint Patrick's Day, are highlighted during this month.

I am certain you will love the calendar as much as I do.  By the end of the year, you’ll feel as though my hobby farm is your farm, too!  And that’s what I’m hoping for.   Whether or not you live in the country or even take care of many animals on a daily basis, this calendar is for you if you appreciate the simpler yet more colorful things in life. 

The quantity is limited, so I hope you will order a calendar soon and enjoy a HeartFelt year in 2015, day by day!  

Broomsticks in the Paddock?

Could wind direction affect animal behavior?! (hee,hee)

About a month or so ago while out checking the water levels of troughs in the different fields, I happened to walk past the small paddock that houses our hay barn.  In the middle of the paddock was a blue handled broom. At the time I thought it was odd, but I was on a mission and made a mental note to check it out and move it later.  Well, I guess I can blame it on either old age or the heat, but needless to say, I forgot about it.

A few weeks after that, we had the truck loaded with about 80 bales of hay (will only last a few weeks once the hay feeding season begins). This was the first of many loads and we were on a tight schedule to get them loaded into the barn in order to still have time to pick up several more loads.

Frankie- alias, "The Trickster"

Well, we opened the gate to the paddock, drove in, then stopped for me to move the broom!  The broom---that mysterious broom. As I picked it up, I tried to remember when and for what reason this broom would have made its way to the paddock.  I couldn’t remember.

In order to make the unloading of the bales of hay easier, it’s best to back up as close as possible to the barn. That way as someone is throwing the bales off the truck and into the barn, someone else can begin the process of stacking them for easy access in the winter. I went to open the double doors of the barn so that I could back the truck up as close as possible.

Missile - the other possible culprit!

As I reached for the lock, I noticed the bolt wasn’t there. Odd…. Then as I grabbed for the door handles to turn, I realized they were already in the “open” position…..So, they were open, just not ajar.   I tentatively began to swing back the doors (one at a time) not sure what I was going to find. After I got over the shock, I started laughing. I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t even begin to explain to anyone else what I had discovered….it was best for them to see for themselves.

The inside of the barn was in shambles. Everything was strewn from one end to another. Buckets were tossed; the bales that had still been in good shape were ripped apart and trampled. Whatever had been neatly placed was no longer where I’d left it.  And right in the middle of it all…………………was a pile of horse manure!!

My older daughter’s horse had been clicker trained by her when he was younger (Lexingtontofrankfort —Frankie for short).  He had been taught all kinds of tricks but could also get into all kinds of trouble.  Usually the horses don’t have access to the hay barn paddock, but because this past winter had been particularly brutal, I had opened even more paddocks for all the animals to access more grassy fields when they weren’t buried under snowfall.  Well, obviously he found a way to get the door open and go inside to play. You have to realize that this meant maneuvering steps to some extent!!  He must have thought he was something special, figuring it all out.  I’m sure he tossed the buckets, played with lead lines, kicked around the water heaters, ripped open the bales of hay to sample the various ones, threw the broom out into the paddock, and then ‘marked’ his territory!

Frankie checking out the llamas while waiting for supper.

 My time table for unloading and stacking hay came to a screeching halt.  I had to muck the hay barn, straighten up everything (and I mean everything!), and then begin the process of storing winter hay.  It made for great conversation as we speculated how the whole event had played out among the horses.  What made it funnier was that all the horses galloped up to watch from across the fence as we worked.  It was if they were in a “line-up” and daring us to guess the correct culprit……however, we are certain that there was only ONE------Frankie!