Everything's Bigger Here

Life is just bigger here on the farm.

I did a lot of birdwatching at our old place near Milwaukee. You know, "Oh, look at the pretty cardinal!"

So I was thrilled when Jeff pointed out this nice little birdie in our cottonwood tree:



Here's the closeup. That cute little birdie happens to have a seven-and-one-half foot wingspan:



Snow is bigger here, near the Twin Cities. You need special equipment to snowblow your driveway:



Chores are bigger now, with 20 goats, 10 sheep and two mini-donkeys. Our good friend Dave built these new feeders for us, to make chores easier:



The feeder plans are free from Premier.



This is Asta or Birta (they are identical twins), an Icelandic lamb. She approves of the new feeders:



So does Pippin, our Toggenburg wether:



Actually, Mr. Pip likes to sleep in the new feeders. He and Mr. Merry are getting a bit too big for their britches and are going to find themselves being trained to pull a cart come spring. They're both teenagers now and full of naughtiness! A bit of extra exercise ought to keep them more sedate.

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Here is the sweater I'm working on for Jeff. Again, it is inspired by Donna Druchunas' new Ethnic Knitting Discoverybook. Despite having all the Elizabeth Zimmermann titles, I'm relying on this book more because of its concise tips.



I'm up to the shoulders now. I'll be steeking the armholes. The pattern is from the book. I was able to improve my two-color knitting tension by flipping the sweater inside-out to work the color bands, thanks to a tip from my (blogless now) friend Pamela.

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Puppy teeth seem bigger here at the farm:



Emma was even born with extra teeth, and had to have one removed! Molly is auditioning for "An American Werewolf In London."



Lucky for us, we know they're not serious:



Just big old babies...



And, of course, despite this being a new (old) house, with new pets, some things never change...