Most people dye eggs to prepare for Easter. . .

but at our house we are dying wool instead!

How else are we going to find the right shade of pink for the inside of bunny ears and for bunny noses?  And what is Easter without some yellow fuzzy chicks?  I will post pics of the finished products, I am working on more felted critters for my etsy store.

Of course, that means a little less time doing this. . .

not that Gus doesn't try to help with the irresistible smell of wool!  :)

And yes, that is our real-life bunny inspiration in the background, his name is Barney.

March 7, 2011

More of our furry family. . .

 

This is Gus before we brought him home, it is so hard to believe that he was ever that little!

And this is Gus, still growing and growing and growing.  He is over 40 pounds at 4 1/2 months.  He is posing in this picture with all that remains of his favorite Christmas present.  Doesn't he look innocent?

And this is Gus last week with our house guest, Sadie.  It took over a week of letting her sleep on his dog bed, bringing her his favorite toys, licking her face, following her everywhere she went; finally she played with him! 

One year later. . .

Wow, a lot has changed in one small year!  Unfortunately, Zoe passed away in the spring of 2010, I am comforted that she passed peacefully in her sleep curled up under her favorite sugar maple with her sister, Clara nearby. 

There will never be another Zoe but her sister Clara is certainly feeling more independent and brave in her small flock of two at our house.  In late summer of 2010, Clara and Pearl arrived at our home in the back of our good friend Karen's SUV (sorry, Karen :( ).  Clara followed me right into her new paddock, toured her new sheep shed and then seemed like she completely understood that it was to be her forever home.  That is how Clara came to be the 'alpha' sheep of her small flock.  It didn't take long for Clara to realize that she wasn't 'just a sheep' any more.  Her flock mate is Pearl, a very sweet Border Leicester that grew up at the Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm.  Pearl is credited with capturing John's heart within the first five minutes she was home.  My husband is a very easy-going guy, but I don't think he ever truly believed me when I kept telling him that I wanted a house with a place for Zoe & Clara to retire when their Museum gig was over.  He took the news well, built us a sheep shed, and even put up the fencing, but I wouldn't say that John was as excited about the sheep living with us as I was.  He was gracious enough to come home from work for the momentous occasion, climbed into the sheep paddock to greet our new girls and Pearl looked up at him with those big beautiful sheep eyes and he was g-o-n-e!  She has realized that she has it good in this flock of two, as well.  Pearl even managed to get out last month, not that that was a hard task-the snow is really, really deep and she just had a short hop over the fence.  The trouble was, she couldn't figure out how to get back in and she was in such a panic on the snowy paths that I was worried that she might slip before I figured out how to get her back in.  With a little team work I got Pearl back in over the fence and I guess she decided the grass wasn't any greener on the other side of the fence because she hasn't tried it again-it put her on the wrong side of the hay rack and she really likes her hay. 

Clara & Pearl mowing our lawn, they earn their keep!

Pearl, looking regal!