Winter Weary

I know I am not alone in saying I am ready for Spring. I was fooled into thinking we were going to have an easy winter this year, like last year. Other than Hurricane Sandy throwing a wrench into the machine we had fairly mild weather up into January. Then Old Man Winter rode in and was here to stay. Bitter cold, howling wind and mostly nuisance snows. We at least were spared when the storm
" Nemo " blew in. Just 8 inches that go instead of several feet that our neighbor states to the East got hit with.

So what's been going on ?
Not a heck of a lot!

Dog training has pretty much screeched to a halt. I just can't handle single digit temps and howling winds. I don't think it a bad thing to take a break .

Sheep are getting heavy with lambs due in April.
Hay put up in the barn has been rapid in it's descent out of loft and into mouths of the livestock.

One new upgrade has been a new Range for the kitchen. We had our old electric one that came with the house replaced with a gas range. I love using gas to cook with. We have a propane tank for our fireplace (that was converted to gas) so it was easy to run a line into the kitchen. 

I





It looks like a Cadillac parked in a Ghetto but I love it none the less!

We also moved the computer into our other spare  bedroom. We put a nice Futon in the bedroom we had the computer in. As you can see the change has been well received.



Jan 17 2013 winter training

Not much going on here. Winter is here and not much consistent training is going on.  Sheep have been cranky as they always seem to get this time of year. Either running full tilt or not wanting to move at all. We started replacing a large bit of fence line in Fall. Winter came and now we'll have to wait to carry on with the project. I took advantage of the missing fence to do some different out work for Rush and Flint. It was fun to set the sheep in the low pasture in back and send dogs from the top of the hay field. Lot's of dips and rock cropping to negotiate. Opal is learning her flanks, off balance and comfortable flanks. She is getting pretty solid to voice but sketchy on her flank whistles. At this point I don't really care too much what the sheep are doing. I just am trying to help Opal learn left and right as well as her listening and taking a flank that may not seem the right thing or comfortable. I do see in this video I am asking too much for a lie down. I also see I am not getting the lie down about 50% of the time. So that is a good thing for me to pay attention to as I go forward.
I apologise for the tiling of the video. I don't know why it is so pixel ed. Annoying to spend a good bit of money on an HD Camcorder and videos don't look that impressive to me.

Other than that I have been busy inside. Have painted the kitchen a new color and I painted the main living room wall a shade darker green than what I have on the other walls. I never really was happy with the green I had used the last time I painted. It just seemed too pale and you really could not see it was green due to the natural lighting in that room. Now with that one long wall a bit darker it has pulled the green out of the other walls and I like the result.

Another thing I am excited about is we are going to replace our range from electric to gas. I hate the stove we have , that came with this house. I love to cook with gas  and we have been eyeing a range that we like and it's on sale. Since we have LP gas for the fireplace it won't be to bad to have our plumber come in and run a line to the kitchen. Can't wait to cook with gas!

on my family front, my brother Michael who lives in Arizona happened to be riding his mountain bike past my parents old house and saw it was for sale. He bid on it and got it! So it's kind of cool he'll be living in our parents house. He plans to rent his to help offset the cost of owning the two homes. I am really excited for him and have always loved our parents house. I am happy he will be living in it.

twas the day before Christmas

The dogs of Swift Star Farm
 

Here we are, the day before Christmas. Hard to believe.  So the world did not come to an end on December 21. We are all still plugging along as best we can.
2012 is circling the drain. It is a time of reflection for many of us.

This time of year is and has been for a long time a difficult time of year for me. My Sister Anne died suddenly at age 24 on November 19 when I was just a few weeks into being 8 years old.

These Holidays, Thanks Giving and Christmas were just never the same in our home after Anne died. Always from that point on, a somber time and a struggle to act "normal".

 It also makes me think of my Swift. She was born Dec. 9 and died Dec.14. Some may think it silly that I still pine over that dog so many years later. But I do. She was so young and in her prime. I loved that dog and had such a wonderful connection to her that I hope to find again with another dog in my lifetime.

My husband has a hard time understanding why I get like this. To be honest I wish more than anything to be able to rid myself of the sad feelings.
He comes from a family of five Children and it's hard for him to grasp my feeling of loss at what should be a happy joyous time of year.

I am able to look at all the wonderful events over this past year and I am very grateful for all the good that has happened. Just this stupid dark cloud hangs over me.

Many I know are suffering with loss they have had this past year, be it human or four legged.
We lost my husbands Father this past spring and it seems empty without him this year.
I have lost a few friends and have had several friends loose a good dog.

Still here I am prepping Christmas Eve dinner. Thankful to have my parents both still alive and living here with us.
The weather forecasts for a white Christmas this year. What a treat! I am looking forward to that and I know the dogs will enjoy snow too.

So lastly I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas if you celebrate it. I want to thank you for reading my blog. I wish you all good things in the coming year 2013!

our Christmas Cactus
 

eye of an Eagle

Breathtaking Eagle
soars high in the cloudy sky
eyes peering downward
Tis the beginning of Winter
hunting for food to survive

Melvina Germain

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a crazy couple of weeks we have had.

Sandy hit us with some very strong winds and flooding rains. We were out of power for a week.

It was not fun at all. We had done prepping as much as we could but we were caught short in many crucial aspects that would have made riding this storm out a little more comfortable.

We have a gas powered fireplace that would have given us heat during the outage, but sad to say the propane tank was empty and gas delivery was not going to be for another week.

Thankfully the gas company was able to fit us in after six days with out power so we did have one night of relative comfort before regaining full power.

We have a really good generator so that was a Godsend.

We were working on getting a switch system in place that would allow the generator to run our well pump , furnace and a few outlets in the house . But we did not have it in place before Sandy rolled in. Almost , but not quite! Still , we fared a lot better than many on the coast and less inland than us.

My family and friends still living on Long Island were in much worse shape than us. My friends in New Jersey even worse.

 

I was entered in a sheepdog trial the weekend after the storm, but with no power and two elderly parents here I just could not make it to Maryland for a sheepdog trial. Priorities! I had planned on going to Virgina for one this weekend , but bowed out.

Too much to do here and weather is looking too good for us not to keep at the fencing project we hope to finish before old man winter wraps his arms around us for a long bear hug.

 

The week with out power was challenging at best but we had a visitor one day that made us forget for a little while about being cold and dirty .

The eagle that I have in the beginning of this installment.

They really are magnificent birds. We have them here from time to time and I always am drawn to stop whatever I may be doing to take time out and watch them for as long as they visit.

There is something about an American Bald Eagle that just touches me to the core of my being.

 

Other than that things are plugging along.

Dogs are working well.

Selected breeding ewes are in with the Rams.

Coming to grip with winter riding into town is becoming more evident with each passing day.

Now where did I stow my Carhartt's ?????

swift star farm

I put together a little video , sort of a "Year in the Life" of our farm.

" Miss You "

" I've been walking in central park
Singing after dark
People think I'm crazy
I've been stumbling on my feet
Shuffling through the street..."

Today is and will always be a somber day for me. Any of you who are faithful to my blog know why.
This morning started crisp, bright with calm wind and cobalt blue sky as the day began eleven years ago.
I will take time out through out today to remember those who were Innocent bystanders. Helpless to save themselves from a fate I am sure none would ever have dreamed for themselves. I will take time to send thanks to all who stepped up and came forward to help .

Take a few moments out of your day to stop and  think about the many who died that day as well as the many search and rescue dogs and people who have died in the aftermath for their heroic efforts to save or recover in the weeks/ months that followed.

Delaware river adventures

My brother Mike was out for a visit a few weeks back. We crammed quite a bit of activity into three days. One of the days Mike Paul and I kayaked about ten miles of the northern part of the Delaware river. I took a few video's of some of the highlights. One is a few sections that have some rapids. Thought this year the water was low in comparison to last year when we went just after a hurricane. That was a little more of a white knuckle experience with the water more that 15 feet higher than this go and it was white water rafting at it's finest. When we were hitting this section of rapids there was this strange man snorkeling in the rapids. I almost took his head off as he popped up just as I was making my way around a large boulder! You can see him in the video of my brother going through the rapids. We also found a nice spot to pull off and swim. The water was calm here and deep. We sighted eight Bald Eagles this trip on the River. Awesome birds.
We also went swimming and hiking on two separate occasions at Lake Wallenpaupak. Lastly we went to see 38.Special in concert. Still sounded great after 40 years together!