13 January 2008

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...

5 comments:

claudia said...

It seems to me that you have to know how to do lots of things (that a suburbanite never learns) to make a farm work.

Denise in Kent, WA said...

Nifty new feeders! I'm getting cold just looking at all the snowy faced critters, tho. LOL

I really like the design and colors you chose for Jeff's barn sweater. I haven't seen the new Donna Druchunas book yet; I'll have to check it out next time I'm at my LYS.

If I didn't know what a sweetheart Molly was, I would think she was evil incarnate from those pictures. Yikes! The one of Yoda & Val is precious. :)

Pamela said...

Poor Vally, he doesn't look entirely happy with his sleep buddy lol.

Anab1 said...

what great photos. I especially love the cat sleeping on her special dog shaped pillow/mattres.. haha. And how amazing to see bald eagles in the wild more often now. I saw one in a tree just as I was crossing the state line leaving Oklhoma behind for the last time before I moved to Michigan and subsequently the UK. I smiled most of the way through Missouri.

Kary said...

wonderful photos, as always Stas!!

Love the one of Jeff & Emma!