Orange bottom special

(Title courtesy of my friend, Kim.) Kim came out Sunday afternoon to take some pictures of a few of my girls and they were not as cooperative as I had hoped they would be. Kim is knitting a striped hat for her nephew with wool from several members of my flock and she likes to send along a picture of the animal(s) who produced the fiber. Her nephew is 7 or 8 years old and he likes knowing where things come from. Don't you think that is so great? Last year, another friend, Sara, was the shepherd who raised the contributing sheep for the Christmas hat (Beanie Baby-such a cute name!). Apparently, the nephew was so proud he took his hat and a picture of Beanie Baby to show-and-tell sessions at school and church. Don't we wish we could all knit up a gift that would be so well received?

Sunday was dry, windy and quite warm (upper 50's). The ewes were way up in the top of a field and completely out of sight. I had hoped to just call them in, but the wind was gusting strongly--the wrong way. I can yell really loud, but they couldn't hear me, so we walked up to get their attention. Sure enough, when they saw us, they were pretty sure treats were on the way. I had a bucket of grain with me and it nearly caused a stampede. Of course, once the grain was gone, they were ready to turn their attention elsewhere. Most of these girls were among the last lambs born before the yarn shop opened and they didn't get much hands on time from me. Out of all of them, Pauladeen was the one who came when called and was happy to follow me around. She died during the summer and the rest of these girls are a bit of a hard sell for socializing. This year's lambs are a completely different story. (Remember all those bottle babies back in the spring?) Those ewe lambs are in what I call the "teenage phase". They are just plain silly sometimes--flighty, goofy and so much fun! They hang around me all the time and are always looking for a scratch under the chin or behind their ears. I have to admit, I love that.

Saturday I spent the day in Midway, which is a wonderful village here in Woodford county. It was the day of their Christmas Open House and all the shops were decked out for Christmas. I set up my little display in the Honest Farm Market and was pleasantly surprised to sell quite a few of my hand knitted mittens, hats and Christmas ornaments. If I can manage to get a few more knitted this week, I may go back next Saturday. Susie, who owns the Honest Farm Market, had wonderful baked goods and beautiful arrangements of greenery and holly. It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon and I managed to get in some knitting time, too. My impression was that people were looking for smaller and more personal gifts this year. I know the economy is in a worrisome state, but I think it would be a good thing if we could all think smaller and more personal, not just this year, but always.

We have a winter storm warning on for this afternoon and tonight and I am so happy about it. I'm off to the grocery right now to get cookie making supplies. The annual Christmas baking marathon is about to commence!