Marcel the Happy
Marcel The Happy has been allowed to go and live in the barn. Sweet as it is to have him pooping all over the furniture I have been waiting for a row of warmish days to get him acclimatised to living out with the other animals. He is a sheep after all. He is esconsed with great delight in the sunroom with his sunlamp and today he will probably be watching the snow through this window. Yes, it is forecast to snow today. And the shearer called last night and will be here at lunchtime so all the sheep are undercover. The barn is noisy again.
Sheila lived here, in the sunroom, for the deep winter and Daisy’s calf will live here next. Marcel the Happy has offered to warm up a spot for the calf. The straw is deep and warm and nibbleable. Yesterday got up to 50F (10C). the wind dropped and it was glorious yesterday evening. One of those evenings when I really, really did not want to come inside. I wished my kitchen was in the barn. So I could stay with my animals.
Here is a shot of Sheila on her bed. On not In. There is a car in the stall behind her. Don’t even begin to ask me why it is still there but it is useful for you to do the comparison, you can see how long Sheila is and how HIGH her bed is now. She likes the top bunk.
She is sleeping well tonight as the pub scraps bucket had a whole tray of over cooked buns. She almost died of excitement, then was a little shocked when I only let her have half.
Daisy. Pregnant with hope. I felt her calf move again yesterday, the Loch Ness monster of the bovine depths.
Good morning: Nine days to go before calf number one and the commencement of the milking season. Don’t PANIC!!
The skunks were out the night before last. They crept in and visited the chickens then I followed their smelly tracks in the snow through the field and then up to the bee hive. They walked round and round it, looking for a way in. So no dogs out after dark from now on. Especially not TonTon the skunk magnet. The skunks have decided it is spring!
Our featured image today (the one right the way at the top) is Ton on (not in) the hay field. I know it looks like ice, well that is because it is covered in .. um.. ice, but there is a little melt happening (she says hopefully). Not like melted cheese in a pan or anything but a little softening around the edges. I have taken the header off. It made the page look too busy but don’t forget. No outrunning the angels!
Dawn is here I must away and get ready for the shearer.
Your friend on the farmy,
celi.
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Today the new layout worked perfectly! Marcel does look extremely happy, I hope he does lose that adorable face as he gets older. We got more snow yesterday, just a couple of centimetres but enough to be depressing. Spring really can’t come soon enough.
I took out the header and only gave you big images, glad it worked! that is great, though sometimes I will succomb to the call of the gallery.. c
Thanks!
Take a piece of hardware cloth several inches bigger than your hives all the way around and cut it so the pointy wires are all exposed on each edge and stick it under your hive. It’s an easy skunk deterrent. Skunks can be a big problem and the bees are too cold to do anything about it this time of year :-/. The pointy edges will stop them from reaching up and into your hives to eat honey and brood.
Thank you, what an excellent solution, I shall find something pointy and do that today, I have been trying to work out how to deter them!.. c
Is Boo lost without his lamby?
Boo watches him out there, so the lamb is seldom alone.. c
Oh good. I was a bit concerned Marcel would be lonely.
I love Sheila’s tall bed – like the fairytale of the Princess and the Pea. Only I doubt very much that a pea would survive in Sheila’s bed. It would be rootled out and gobbled down. Poor, starved Sheila. Only half a tray of buns….
I know and then she took the leaf of hay (that she always eats for dinner), carrying it in her mouth and added it to her bed! Too full for her greens I suppose..c.
Oh Sheila’s picture made me laugh. She looks like she did a bellyflop/face plant into her bed! Something out of the Far Side.
He’s such a cool little dude, that Marcel. The farm is certainly looking happier with some sunshine. It looks like reasonable weather is on its way to us as well. So good to feel sunshine:)
Marcel is adorable. What a great picture. The skating rink looks a bit dangerous but I hear the thaw is coming……please let it be true!
Shearing? Good grief, it’s freezing out there! Sheep here aren’t relieved of their winter coats until June!
Christine
I know, but this shearer is the ONLY shearer for hundreds of miles and I have a barn so they can stay inside for a wee while, so when he calls I say yes,. c
I was going to say that. It’s not often I question the wisdom of the Garden Angel, but really! Would you like to have a short back and sides this weather? Could you learn to shear them yourself? My Sally helps do it for the Flexigraze sheep in Northumberland.
What a beautiful post C and how lovely to see our darling Marcel where he should be. Give him one more kiss on the head from me for being such a good little lamb.
No panicking here – just long slow deep calming breaths.
Have a happy farmy day C.
🙂 Mandy xo
Morning Mandy, al kisses foindly delivered.. c
Yay. Thanks C. xo
Noooo not the shearers … there is still snow and ice outside. You are going to give Sheila the other half tray today right? Poor Mama, hope you have an alternative coat at the ready for her. 🙂 Laura
She will be inside in the straw, nice and warm, until friday when it really will warm up some more..and very shortly (in a matter of weeks I hope) it will be hot, it is like when a waitress walks past your table, order the drink now, if you say no thank you she will not be back for ages!! c
Dear Celia, I thought you would like to see this video because it’s a woman who not only accurately talks with animals but also tells us how we can all do it. I do this myself and know it’s something possible and wonderful. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiJOXKsOrsc
The Garden Lady of Ga.
Diann, thank you, I shall go and check it out.. c
How happy is Boo with the lambs move to the barn?
Boo just lays in the barn with him.. and his Waiting Station command is right next to the lambs house so he is there most of the day.. c
I thought Ton was standing in the middle of the sea!! Beautiful picture though. And our little Marcel, can’t get over the way he grins all the time, such a happy chappy! Snow melted some yesterday, which meant my kitchen floor was covered in muddy towels once more! Shelly isn’t so bad, but Sam comes in covered in ‘frozen’ mud come evening and as I don’t have any hoses attached yet (they would just freeze) I have to stand him in the middle of the kitchen and give him a sponge bath before he is allowed in the rest of the cottage. Of course i never get it all off, so still have floors to wash almost every day! I have seeds starting to show in the green house! Cabbage, Kale, Broccoli and Lettuce. They have little domes of plastic over them at the moment helping them to keep warm. I just hope the weather warms up before they get too big for the domes!
Hugs, Lyn
50˚!!! We never reached 30˚ and now it’s snowing. We’ve gotten about 3 inches. It’s supposed to keep going until early afternoon. I’ll be out with the blower after I finish the coffee or the Old Timers will be out there shoveling. I’m so looking forward to finishing my coffee in the back yard and not as a precursor to starting the snow blower.
It was the strangest thing, the temp went from 38 to 50 in an hour and the moment the sun began to drop, back down to 30 we went, it was a delightful tiny bubble of warm. Friday should warm up they say.. heres hoping.. c
oh! coffee in the backyard.. yes!
I can’t believe you reached 50F! That is spring coat weather for sure! It was freezing again yesterday and snowing now. Fortunately the snow means I get to stay home to work. That, I don’t mind one bit. I just love Marcel the Happy. His little face makes me so happy! I can’t believe Daisy is almost due. I’ll be thinking of you.
It was weird that is for sure.. probably partly sun on the gauge too! I had the doors open though. we have only had a tiny bot of that snow, looks like you are getting it all up there.. c
Fifty degrees. Oh, I can only dream. More snow here overnight.
But seeing Marcel the Happy makes me smile and forget winter for a few minutes. Your landscape looks so much like my native prairie.
Not sure why surprise poop on your sofa wouldn’t warm your heart? Glad he is out learning to be a “sheeple.”
He has all the other sheep in the the barn for the next few days too, so he is extra happy listening to the sounds of his fellows. His baaing inside was more of a ‘mew’. Now he can copy some really noisy sheep. c
it seems so strange to be typing white on black . I am most impressed with your new look.and even more impressed with your beautiful animals. Its difficult to decide who I love the most so I must love all of them the same.
I found two weeny puppies whilst driving this morning maybe 4/6 weeks old so I brought them home much to hubs disgust…so now we have 6 dogs..hopefully we shall be able to find a home for them, but do not hold your breath ……..
where did you find them, were they abandoned? lucky pups that you found them – SIX is a lot of dogs.. c
The layout of your blog looks so clean and nice today, Celi. It really does feature your images. I’m guessing Marcel is as happy as he looks, being with his fellow sheep in the barn and having Boo there, too. My goodness, I don’t think I realized how big Daisy was until I saw her on the ground and, um, spread out!
Don’t squash your baby I was calling to her! She is a big girl.. c
Wonderful happy hopeful photos. Your Theme is looking well and settled. I really like it!
maybe this is a dumb question but would the skunks eat the honey?
everything is hungry with this late spring so I think they would if they could get in there, but they can’t actually get in other than reaching a paw in.. the bees hate to be scrabbled around though. they like to be left on peace.. so i need to fix that today.. c
Oh, poor Daisy looks so uncomfortable! And 9 days to go??
Daisy looks …well….quite pregnant and a wee bit uncomfortable. Be careful
Of the calf boss….. I am excited to see her calf….Marcel is growing like a weed
And I bet he’ll have opinions about the shearing operation ! Love the new look
Of the blog…..March was in like a lamb here in Colorado so out like a lion for us!
Hugs all around for all the farmy critters great and small !
the lion sounds a worry.. morning nanster.. c
Ocean header just so beautiful and each creature so adorable. I hope you’ll take some shots of the ladies being sheared. YES SIR YES SIR, THREE BAGSFUL! Couldn’t resist.
morning equus darling.. get your map and marker out as tomorrow I might ask our fellowship to tell us what state/country they are from as a wee treat! I know you will want to make a list.. Stand by. c
Marcel looks so happy! Love it.
And is Sheila sleeping face down? Girl after my own heart.
The blog worked ever so much better for me today. Whatever you did, Thank you! I hope you have warmth for the birth…although, I know it doesn’t really matter as you have lights and hay and straw…but warmth and melt and birth are so nice to be part of spring!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://handcraftedbyus.wordpress.com
♬♬♬ Happy Saint Patrick’s Day ♬♬♬
I took off the header, I think that cleans it up.. and oh yes to the warmth.. i have been working in the barn all morning and she came in just before and after mucking about with her bed for a while laid down with such a groan. Yes the calf will have warm bed but I hate to think of all the calves being born into the freezing cold who do not have barns and deep straw. There will be losses for some farmers this year.. c
When we were raising sheep for hand spinning fleeces, the special shearer could only come in February. It was so cold! All the sheep wore coats and had to stay in the barn for a week. Now our NZ shearer uses a blade that leaves the wool slightly longer (about 1/4 inch). Works well. Luckily he does not come until April. Little Marcel is so precious. Sheila never ceases to amaze me, either. A glimpse of Spring…..how nice.
morning emily, my guy does not skin them .. some of the shearing at home (in NZ) is so rough.. but they will stay on the barn for a wee while anyway, we will see how the weather goes.. fingers crossed as they do NOT like to be locked up and that Tilly is a jumper! c
We had a jumper one year that actually leapt out of the holding pen and lit out for parts unknown. Such hysteria! We always made sure the shearers were gentle and worked slowly, much to their disgust. But sheep can be really weird and stubborn as you well know.
The feature images are beginning to making a lovely collage when I click back to the home page. It will be interesting to see them change into Spring, and roll on through the seasons. And it will… surely 🙂
C. I love your new layout for the blog…the photos are so lifelike! That little Marcel…be still my heart…he is too precious! Will he become a wether later on? Shelia and Daisy…oh my! BTW…do they like each other at all or any of the other Farmy Friends? I remember Daisy and Hairy being pals, that ws really something!
Think Spring my dear…I know you are…I am thinking it so hard it’s making my brain hurt! 🙂
Have you told Marcel that he’s a sheep? I just noticed today that the skunks are out here – the first sighting of a skunk pancake on the road must mean spring is around the corner.
Blog looks lovely today, the glarey white is now soft, much easier to read. And I am working on resurrecting my poor neglected blog, so hopefully next time you pop in for a look it will be chugging along nicely…..closed for repairs at the moment. I’m sorry now I grumbled at you about the changes to yours, it wouldn’t have been helpful….it’s hard work and my brain hurts trying to figure out how to move widgets and add gadgets. All the farmy animals look contented, can we see Boo at his command station please?
Keep hoping, and Spring will be there before you know it. 1st March was very windy here, so perhaps March will turn into Marcel!
That face on Marcel in the first photo is adorable! Aw!
Just wondering what camera you use – makes great photos .
I have a very hardworking nikon.. it is a lovely camera.. c
I love your new layout. All attention on your lovely photos with lines of prose sprinkled about.
Wow the temperature has gone up a lot! I bet Boo would join Ton Ton and the skunks given half the chance 😉
it plummeted again but those few hour were bliss.. c
What do you do with your sheep fleeces? Do you spin your own yarn?
I wish i had a wheel, I used to spin, I take them to a mill and have them spun there.. though these i will sell.. c
I too would love to know what camera you use. Would you share? Your photos are quite stunning. I so enjoy seeing them. I can only dream to be that good.
Anyone can take good shots on any camera..my main camera is a nikon d60 .. but some of the shots you see will have come from a very ordinary point and shoot and sometimes the phone.. c
Coming in very late after being ‘on the town’ [wish it HAD been exciting] my attention is firmly focussed on Daisy and bub: methinks she is ready! ‘Marcel the Happy’ – oh how the farmy names change: I do remember the story of ‘Little Boy Blue’ 🙂 ! And I absolutely loved that heading . . . there always has to be one who ‘has an opinion’!!! . . . mmm, sent with love . . .
Poor Daisy, she is just so big and so tired.. c
Hmmm – can one pat and hug a big, fat, pregnant cow from this afar and say ‘It will soon be over and won’t you be a bloody proud Mum/?’ No apologies for the French!!!! Just hoping and praying . . .
I like the changing photo header, it showcases your pictures well. Marcel looks quite happy being a sheep. Sheila does look comfy, Daisy, not so much. Due date is getting close!
Hi, Celi,
Just a not to say how much I look forward to your blog every day.
I like your new look for the blog. I do have to make my window about half as big as the text running the width of the screen is hard to track for me. But that was an easy fix.
Hugs for Ton Ton – probably will be a cyst or perhaps some mouth problem. Check out inside his mouth as I once had a dog who went off her food for no apparant reason – then I realized she had a piece of a bone lodged across the roof of her mouth. Also looking forward to photos of the the new baby calf soon. Just wondering what camers you use C? I live on the south coast of NSW Australia and have only recently discovered this great blog. Love being involved in the goings on with a busy farm life.
I use a very dusty Nikon Pippa, or sometimes a point and shoot and sometimes even the phone, depending on what is at hand! Ton is eating well so there is no problem in that department,many thanks.. c
I love this post! Oh how I miss farm life. Thank you for sharing tidbits of the mood and happenings. 🙂
Reblogged this on How 2 Be Green and commented:
Inspirational read for farm lovers.