When Will All the Flowers Begin????

I keep singing that song in my head with these words..... All around the blogosphere, I keep seeing flowers. We are still getting snow! In the last 5 days it has been white twice. But the snow did give me a chance to take some wintry photos of a pattern I am working on. Julia isn't quite as obliging as she used to be when I am taking photos. I've got to bribe her with money and then it is pretty torturous for both of us. Do you see the snow ball in her hand below? You can only imagine where it landed - at least it wasn't on my camera. Hard to believe it was April 1st, isn't it?

I received the prettiest little thing in the mail the other day from Robin in Minnesota. She came to the October "Get Stitched on the Farm" knitting retreat.

And a beautiful letter.

Dear Kristin, Attending your class in October of last year was one of the highlights of my year. It was so much fun! I've had more fun playing with color and feel a lot more confident. I've been knitting a lot, but I keep getting distracted with flowers. Here's one that reminds me of your sunflowers. Robin

What you can't see is Robin inserted a wire into the stem and the flower is totally bendable. It is exquisite and is cheering me up sitting in a little vase on my windowsill above my sink as I wait for something green to begin here. I was really tickled to receive this flower. As she was spending time at the farm last year, I could see her brain being turned on and a real creativity developing in her knitting. Robin is an accountant by training and letting loose doesn't come easy to her. As I sent her off into her knitting world, I could tell she really was taking away a lot of good information and that "I had gotten to her." To receive this little gift was truly special for me as a teacher. Thanks Robin!

I'm teaching the "Get Stitched Flower Class" in September here at our Farm. So far, there are no takers so I may have to cancel it and try something else. Or maybe the date is just bad. Or maybe noone wants to come.... There are only 2 spots left in the October 2/3 class so if you are on the fence, think about signing up soon.The July class is completely filled with a group of friends from Maryland. I'm looking forward to all the preparations, cleaning up the garden, airing out the house!

If you are looking for a nice Spring, Easter, or Passover gift to knit for friends, I must suggest my "Olympia's Knit and Crochet Flowers" pattern. (That is the pattern Robin used although she improvised a bit - yay Robin!) Who wouldn't like a knitted flower for a hostess gift or a centerpiece. I think maybe I will use my rustic basket with felted flowers as an Easter basket this year. 

The felted flowers also look beautiful when decorating a grapevine wreath. They are so quick to knit and totally addicting. A nice "carry around" project when it gets too warm to drag around big bags and heavy wool.

The pattern is available for $6.00 on my website via PDF Dowload here.

Don't forget to add your question to "Ask The Farmer." Either you all are too tired of reading the blog or don't have enough time in the day..... Or you are still working on your taxes like we still are. I've got a really busy week this week and next and I am hoping The Farmer will fill in for some of my posting.

Super Moon

My friend Kay sent me this link about Saturday's MOON. Look up if you can..... And read about it here. Happy Vernal Equinox to you.

Yearling Ewes Settling In

We moved the yearling lambs just in the nick of time. All of them were born last winter and we expected that they would be lambing very soon. They all spread out far across the field making "sheep paths" across the snow. They weren't happy in the barn since they really have never known about having a roof over their heads. 

We were uncomfortable not being able to offer shelter for them. Having a lamb for the first time is similar to being a first time mother. Some of them take to it beautifully. And then there are others who drop the baby and leave it to freeze in the snow. We've been watching carefully to see how each one of them does. If they seem like they need a little help with their mothering skills, we put the mama and lamb into a maternity pen for a few days. 

Some of them are fine and need no help! That's great.

It finally is starting to feel like winter is on the way out. Finally! The snow is melting in many places. Now we just have to get over the fifth season in New England - "MUD SEASON!" YUCK!

A Special Movie of Two Ewes Lambing at Leyden Glen Farm

Last Friday morning, I was helping with chores at the barn. I had my camera with me, as I usually do during lambing season. I was really lucky to witness two ewes each giving birth to twin lambs. Most of the time, the ewes will lamb when we aren't around so I felt incredibly fortunate. 

On Monday I went to Brattleboro to visit my friend Beth Brown-Reinsel. She helped me learn a little bit about iMovie '11. Boy - some learning curve. The last version I had of iMovie was '05. The new version can do a lot if you can figure it out. Check out all of the videos Beth has been posting on You Tube here. They are really great and show many of the techniques she teaches in the knitting classes she travels the USA teaching.

This morning I went down to the barn (did I mention we got another half a foot of snow last night?) to help out. I also took my computer and recorded the audio. Let me warn you - if you have a Border Collie, this video could drive them nuts - it does ours. They look all around for the sheep and can't find them!

If you prefer to watch the video on YouTube, here is the link. Share it with your friends - because it sure is the miracle of nature. Pass it along to your home schooling friends too! I like to envision many of you sitting in your offices, perhaps in a high-rise in a very large city, watching our sheep lamb..... It's such a wonderful thought that the internet can make the miracles of farming available to so many people. Enjoy!

Snow Scenes at Leyden Glen Farm

Although I offer up a whole bunch of sheep photos here on the blog, we also have many other animal inhabitants here at our farm.


Our dogs are key to our sheep operation. Without our dogs, we would be nowhere.


And then there are the many different breeds of chickens and guinea hens that I keep for eggs and meat. Chickens are very difficult to photograph, at least for me! They move so fast.



Most of the time the chickens are picking around in the dirt and the photos don't turn out very well. But silhouetted against the snow, it is a different story.


Right now, we have one too many rooster but they are fun to look at.



And although our garden is deep under the snow and ice now, the fluffy snowball hydrangeas are still poking their lovely profiles out in the world.


And then there is the backbone of the farm - our farmhouse, built in 1751. I sometimes think about all it has witnessed in the three centuries it has stood on this hill.


There is a fabulous children's book called "The House" written by J. Patrick Lewis and illustrated by Roberto Innocenti. Have you seen it? It's one of those children's books that is really for adults. It would make a wonderful housewarming gift.

I'm off to NYC today to teach at VKLive. Say hi if you see me in passing and I look forward to those I will meet in my classes.

Sheep are Smarter than Humans in a Snowstorm

During any storm, the sheep prefer to be outside.


They snuggle down in the snow and let the flakes fall down on them.

They know not to move around too much. They don't worry about running to the store to pick up milk and bread, risking life and limb. When the storm is over, they head on over to the bales of hay that The Farmer has brought in for them and they start eating.


It is a totally peaceful scene and I always marvel at the simple beauty and calm of our flock of in a snowstorm.


I swear they look at me out there taking photos and just roll their eyes!

Another Storm Here in Western Massachusetts

Before I could even post the photos from the last storm, we are being hit by another today and tomorrow. Turning to sleet and ice and we've got our fingers crossed we don't lose power. Here are some photos from last week. Enjoy.....

Before the Storm

Whenever there is a big storm coming, the animals know intuitively that something is up. They must feel it in the atmosphere, in their bones, in the air. All the cats head indoors about a half day before a storm hits. The chickens make sure they finish all their grain and whatever else I throw their way. The sheep eat copious amounts of hay. Unlike the animals, we humans listen to the radio obsessively, trying to determine if the storm will actually make it here. Lots of times, the big storms hug the New England coast and don't get this far. Wednesday's storm sure did arrive - we got about 18" of beautiful, fluffy, diamond encrusted snow and we are still digging out.

The evening before the storm, I went out to walk around in the sheep pasture knowing that soon only snowshoes would work. I took both Julia's iPod Touch for the Hipstamatic camera and my DSLR. Nice thing about the Touch - it fits easily into a pocket. Can't say that about the big camera with a telephoto lens on it.

This week, as I have been fooling (and I will admit, slightly obsessed, depending on who you ask) with the Hipstamatic settings on the iPod Touch, I have become totally frustrated. I guess it has been awhile since I have tried to learn something new (message to self - keep trying to learn something new). And this camera is completely wacky and unpredictable. I guess that's what kept me interested. I kept trying to get the images from the Histamatic that I thought I was seeing. With literally a flick of the finger, the lens changes, the film effect changes, and the flash changes. It is pretty much pure genius, as I'm sure many of you have already seen when you tried it.


But, it is a very different camera. What I have learned this week is that even with a DSLR or whatever camera you have, it helps to take a different look at things. Don't just stand there Kristin. Bend over, kneel on the ground, lie on the ground on your back, on your stomach. Everything looks different from a different perspective. It's so easy to just stand up and shoot, isn't it? Set up the tripod often and keep changing the heights even if you can't see what you are getting because it up against the wall and you can't get your body behind it. Change lenses. See what happens.

When I looked up in the sky as I was walking through the little bit of snow in the pasture on Tuesday, I saw the most beautiful clouds lit by the sun as it was slowly setting. (What do you call those clouds, anyone? Is it a mackerel sky?) It was just darn spectacular. It was so awesome that it made me think that the sky, the clouds, and the sun were telling us that something... and that we should listen.... that something big was coming.


And then I looked over at one of the lone trees in the pasture, a tree I love to photograph. It is an old apple tree that is being smothered by a giant grape vine. Every year, the grape vines grows wilder and wilder, full of beautifully shaped big leaves. The sheep love to rest under the tree and the vine for shade. Now it is bare and looks so alone. I walked around it to see how it looked from the other side. It was just so beautiful with the clouds and light behind it - mass of branches making its own beautiful painting against the sky. I started snapping, not knowing what I was getting. I can't say the photos turned out quite as good as the moment but oh well. I tried.


That's the thing with taking photos, it is really hard to capture the exact moment and to have the photo exactly replicate the image before me. I think that is what keeps me interested. I've got a few more days of Hipstamatic images and then I promise you, I'll stop with it for a little while. Next week, I'll also share the pre, during and post storm images that I took with my DSLR.

Next week, I'll be down in NYC at VKLive teaching six classes in three day. What was I thinking? I am going to be plum exhausted. I know the classes are sold out but anyone can go to the market and I'm pretty sure it will be fab. I'm looking forward to VKLive immensely - to be in the big city where I worked just after college, to see good friends that I never get to visit with anymore and to meet lots and lots of knitters. It will be overstimulating to say the least. The roster of teachers the Vogue Knitting staff has lined up is amazing. I look forward to sharing what I know with the students I meet and meeting many teachers who I have never had the pleasure to say hi to.

Either tomorrow or Sunday, I'll be launching the new "Get Stitched on the Farm Knitting Retreat" website and announcing the classes for 2011. Pop back in if you have the chance and have internet access. Good weekend everyone!

The Storm - A Hipstamatic View

Lovely storm, as long as you were inside. It snowed and snowed and snowed. We must have about 18" or so. I took photos with my real DSLR and will post them later. Right now, I'll show you some of the Hipstamatic images from just before and during the storm.

Sheep before the storm in the front pasture


Sheep during the storm riding it out under the crab apple tree



See the big flakes falling?


Nessie wanting to get into the sheep although the fence was blocked by the deep snow and the road crew plow. They do a wonderful job around here with the roads, but we have to be patient and wait our turn!


The shed with all the snow


The shovel got a lot of work!


The mudroom in the snow


Part of the bottom end of the Christmas tree buried in the snow.
The one nice thing about a deep snowstorm is it hides all the leftover unslightly stuff in the yard!

I will say this (although I do not know that it is true) I think the Hipstamatic is a little better for settings where there is color. The colorful photos I have shot and have not yet shown are a little more interesting than these storm photos.

And how did you all fare during the storm?

November on the Hill

November certainly looks different than October here on our hill. All the green has turned brown, tan, and gray and there are only a few leaves still clinging to the tree branches. Those are rust and toffee colored. The invasive bittersweet vines are now really noticeable. The leaves are a bright yellow and you can see them climbing their way up so many trees. The berries, however beautiful and bright, will be spread by the birds and more vines will grow. It is very hard to get rid of a bittersweet vine once it takes root. Although I love to photograph the berries, I am pretty careful about bringing it into the yard. I'm sure a photograph will crop up soon here on the blog!


The mature ewes are way up at the top of the hill. They are reclaiming a field that our neighbors used to keep their dairy cows on. It has been several years since there have been animals on this site. It was so overgrown with wild roses, goldenrod, brambles and small trees. The Farmer went in with his tractor and brush-hog and cleared a way so that he could set up the fence. The sheep have been grazing this spot for over a week now. They are covered with burrs and not too photogenic at the moment.


As the sheep graze and pick away at whatever vegetative matter is there, they fertilize the land with their manure. By next spring, this field will start to look better - certainly more fertile and green. Grazing sheep are amazing! As are Border Collies....


When I got the photo below onto my computer it was almost black. I took the photo very late in the day when the sun was gone. I did a little fiddling with Photoshop (I love the highlight/shadow command) and was amazed that the colors below were lurking amongst all the black.


The house at the top of the hill has been abandoned for decades. It stands as a reminder of what once was. I don't know anything about who built it or lived in it. I must look into that. Although there are power lines going to the old house, there is no power available. Every year more of the house rots away. Kind of sad but nice to photograph.


By the time I got done taking these photos, the sun was almost gone. I think the colors and the eery look to the sky pretty much sums up November.


It is really difficult to get used to the sun being gone by 4:30 in the afternoon. This first week after Daylight Savings Time is such an adjustment.

Hope you all will adjust soon too!