Nokie

Yesterday was Nokie's 10th birthday! She is my Great Pyranees guard dog and she's a big girl who weighs in at 125 lbs. Even though she is advancing in years, she still has the heart and soul of a pup. We adopted her from the Great Pyranees Rescue Society 4 years ago. Nokie and I have learned a lot about each other since she came to live here. I had lots of ideas of keeping her outside to guard the sheep.... she had lots of ideas of sleeping on the sofa in the house! She was raised a "city-dog" so she had never seen a sheep or a goat until she came to live on our little farm. It turned out that she didn't like the sheep very much. She found they were easily intimidated so she had fun chasing them around and around their pen. I had to remind her that her duty was to guard the sheep and not to herd them! When she got bored with the sheep, she just sat and barked. Needless to say, the neighbors were not too happy about the barking. So I decided to put her in with the goats. The goats were not intimidated at all... as a matter of fact, the first thing they did was knock Nokie down! They were not going to put up with any nonsense from a dog! And a curious thing happened....Nokie loves the goats. She loves to go down to the goat pen with me to feed them. She will lay right down amongst them. She follows them around. She drinks out of their water bucket. She has tried to lick them a time or two. And true to her guardian personality, she is very protective of them. If Ken or I try to catch one of the goats, she will position herself in between us and the goat so we can not get close. She has found her purpose in life.

Nokie and I understand each other a lot better now. She knows she can not bark incessantly without a reason (rule #1: only bark at the "bad guys") and she needs to be kind to the goats (rule #2: no chasing the goats) (rule #3: no nipping at them). I know I can't make a city-dog sleep outside all night....she has a sofa to sleep on in my breezeway and a dog biscuit every morning.

Happy Birthday, Big Girl!!!

P.S. As you can tell from her photo, she is not fond of having her picture taken!

Bright cheery color on a gray and snowy day

The snow is swirling and blowing around. The roads are snow-covered and slippery. It is another gray and cold day here in Michigan.....but I have a bright spot to beat the winter blahs. It is the beautiful flowers in my hooking! Here is my latest project, just completed and ready for hemming. This is Not Forgotten Flowers, an adaptation of a Lori Brechlin note card design. It's available on my website (www.spruceridgestudios.com). I hooked this with all textured wools. I particularly like the big red flower....sort of like a bright Valentine! I've already started hooking another rug...keep checking back to see what's on my frame now!

Hockey anyone?

Brrrrr....it's 12 degrees....but a perfect afternoon to strap on the skates and shoot a few pucks. Hey, Kevin, where'd the puck go???

Michigan has definitely been in the deep freeze for the past two days. What a better way to take advantage of a cold sunny day than to get out on the ice. Tomorrow we are expecting more snow!

Hurray!

As promised, here is a picture of my finished rug! The last loops were pulled up on Friday night...umm...should I say perhaps Saturday morning during the wee hours?!? Yup, when I get inspired, I have been known to stay up until 1 am...2 am... or 3 am!!! The rug still needs to be steamed and hemmed but I've already started another hooking project. I'd rather be hooking than hemming!

A large stray dog came by the animal pens today; he had no collar or identification. He was young and exuberant and bounded in circles around and around the pens. Sequoia gathered his little herd into a group for protection and the sheep stamped their feet and then fled in terror. The animal control officer arrived and took this pup to "Puppy Jail". How sad. We have had several recent dog attacks in our county and dog owners should be mindful to keep their dogs under control.

Another snowy day in Michigan!

Ho hum! Another snowy day here in Michigan! I think this is our third biggest snow of the winter season, although we only received 5 inches of snow instead of the predicted 10 inches. Our neighbor came by on his tractor and plowed our driveway for us, wasn't that nice? Thanks, Mr. Richardson!

Sequoia

The goats certainly love a nice heavy snowfall. It weighs down the spruce branches so they can climb the fence and grab a tasty snack! Sequoia is 8 years old and he is the "alpha" goat of the herd. He is definitely the boss but also a good protector to the rest of the group. When we got him, he was very small and scraggly. I worried because the bigger goats picked on him all the time. Now he weighs 150 pounds and he rules the herd! Just a lesson for all the "little" people out there..."the greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground."

Nash Trash!

I flew down to Nashville on January 3rd to visit my sister Amanda for one week. One of the most hilarious parts of my visit was taking the Nash Trash Tour! You climb aboard a big pink school bus and for the next 90 minutes, you are entertained by Sheri Lynn and Brenda Kay....The Jugg Sisters! They guided us through the streets of downtown Nashville (Bubba was our bus driver), pointed out famous landmarks, and dished the dirt on Country stars! I never laughed so much! If you are ever in Nashville, make sure you book a seat on the pink bus! Their website is http://www.nashtrash.com/

Here's Sheri Lynn and Brenda Kay

(left to right) My sister Amanda, Sheri Lynn, Brenda Kay and me in front of the big ol' pink bus!

On a more serious note, we also drove up to Cadiz, Kentucky to visit with my dad for a few days. One of our favorite things to do is go for a hike in the woods. There is a river bed at the bottom of the hill and when it is dry, you can find the most fascinating fossils and geodes (little tan, globular, round rocks with crystals inside). I love their color and texture. It was a lucky day for me....I collected enough geodes to fill a small jar!

My dad and I hiking down the hill to the river bed.

A Sheep's Tale

Mikko, the Finn sheep

This is Lumi and Mikko. They are my two Finn sheep. Lumi (in front) is a ewe (girl sheep) and her name means "snow" in Finnish. Her fleece is white. Mikko is a wether (neutered boy sheep) and his name is a typical Finnish boy's name, I imagine something like Michael. There is a little "sheep humor" that goes like this: Neutered boys are called wethers because "they don't know whether they are a boy or a girl"!!! Lumi is quite a celebrity here because the fleece from her first shearing won Best of Show at our county fair. Mikko's fleece is considered a "fawn" color and when I spun up some of his wool, it was a creamy oatmeal color. Wonderful!

On New Year's Eve, Mikko had surgery for a urinary blockage. This is a serious condition for wethers and often times the animal has to be euthanized. I could not bear to put him to sleep right at the start of the New Year so I decided to go ahead with the surgery. The first few days after surgery were touch and go because Mikko wasn't eating. It was discovered that he had a fever, and blood work showed that he might be in kidney failure. Since I was out of town, my dear husband had to nurse Mikko along without me. The vet gave Mikko another antibiotic. Slowly, Mikko has improved and I'm delighted to say that he's back to acting like a normal sheep again! I believe small miracles happen all the time, even to sheep!

We are told that Mikko's life expectancy will only be for another 6 months or so. We are spoiling him and giving him the best life we can. He loves to have his back scratched so we are happy to do that for him every day. It is a bittersweet story. One day we will have to say good-bye.

Here's what I'm hooking right now....

First, let me say this: I am not a "fast" rug hooker! But the middle of December came along and I wanted to start hooking something festive for the season...something that would definitely put me in the holiday spirit. I decided to start working on Cocoa & Cookies Alphabet Sampler, a charming pattern which is an adaptation of a note card by Lori Brechlin from Notforgotten Farm. I started hooking this just about 3 weeks ago and look how far I have gotten (remember, I'm not real fast)! The pattern is approximately 26" x 43.5" and I'm hooking it in #8.5 strips. The color plan literally fell into place. This is a really fun rug to hook! Don't you love the wonky little houses on the hill? And who knew that a snowman could have a cute little chin? The pattern is available through my website www.spruceridgestudios.com.

I'm flying out tomorrow to visit my sister in Nashville for a week so my rug will have to wait until I get back. I'll be anxious to finish it when I get home! I'll be sure to post a picture of the finished rug once the last loop is in place.

WOW! Twelve inches of snow!!!

We woke up to a new year and 12 inches of beautiful, white, picture perfect snow. I love snow! I think that is why I love to live in Michigan. Here is a snapshot looking out my back door at all the snowy splendour! Ken had to dig a path down to the barn so we could feed the animals. You can see the ridge of evergreens behind the pole barn that stores our hay...that is why we call ourselves Spruce Ridge Studios! On the right is the sheep pen and beyond that is our pond (but it's hard to see because of the snow cover) My boys walked out on the ice the other day and are anxiously hoping they can strap on their hockey skates soon!

Happy New Year 2008!

Merry Christmas to all!

I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May you share peace and love with your family and friends, and may the meaning of this holiday give you comfort and joy. Thank you to all the folks who have blessed my life with friendship and support!

Baby, it's cold outside!

My little twin angora goats, Zion and Zack, don't seem to mind that it's cold and blustery outside! They love to chew on everything, even the icy fence. And no..... their tongues did not get stuck!