Man Walking

It was warm enough yesterday to once more walk down the familiar track alongside the Creek that is really a Ditch-morning-walk-006

– to the Farm across the Way. We have not done this walk in months and it felt Marvellous.

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This familiar sight once more. The big white barn.

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This is the Point of View from the White barn looking back to the home farm.

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Below: This Image is for Jean. It is called Man Walking. This is one of the few I will print and put on my own wall.

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John did not much like the track as it was still covered in snow. So he took the low road and the dogs and I (and Camera House)  took the high road (it is up on bank of the ditch so it stands to reason that it is the High Road.)  But we got this shot.  It says it all. Life is a journey. Go for a walk along your life.morning-walk-034

Good morning. Poppy is not in Standing Heat quite yet, though she is in foaming-at-the-mouth-bash-stuff-and-run-away heat.  We will have another look in the morning – but she is close.

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And this afternoon the Shearer is coming. Then we will have our last wool clip. Last year I got 4 dollars a fleece. So I am keeping this wool and I will send it to a mill to be cleaned and carded and spun into yarn.  Then I am thinking I might make a blanket, when? I am not terribly sure!  I wish I could weave – wouldn’t that be cool!

I hope you are all going to find loveliness today.

Your friend on the farm

celi

 

48 Comments on “Man Walking

  1. Love the desolate look of the Man Walking picture. I hope he was wrapped up well!

    I have a local friend with sheep and she has been making a blanket with their wool. I’ll see if I can get a photo.

    Poppy: you stand still, there’s a good girl, and you will have your reward.

    Love,
    ViV xox

  2. Morning Celi, how is Boo doing? Still “skunky”! I couldn’t believe it when I read that!! I love the kitties having a good time! Spring is here!
    Have a good day – in the mud!!!

  3. Love the Man Walking picture. It says a lot. The other photos are lovely too. It is nice to emerge into the almost spring, isn’t it?

  4. Poppy sure is drawing this out 🙂 Still looks chilly there – especially the frozen creek- that-really-is- a ditch. Beautiful picture of solitary man in vast landscape. Laura

  5. adding another string to your bow! I am astounded that you have even got time to consider doing another project such as weaving and making blankets. Do you ever sleep?

  6. The picture image of the man walking reminds me of Haiku poetry. Lovely.
    Yarn can be made into weaving, crochet, or knitting. Or, it can be cleaned and felted. If you want to weave it into a blanket, you need to specify the number of strands or “plys” to make the yarn. Probably you’ll want to try different things. I think the reason people crochet ‘granny squares” is because you can work them on your lap at quiet moments, save them up, and put them together into a blanket or throw at your leisure. Weaving takes space for a loom, equipment (a loom and other stuff), and quite a bit of time to load up the yarn into the loom. It’s a wonderful process. My mother taught me how to do this when I was a little girl and I had the use of my own child sized loom when she was taking classes at Greenfield Village in Michigan in the 1950’s, pleasure moments for me. That loom is still there BTW, I visited the weavers building a few years ago and the docent showed me upstairs to the work room because my mother had been a student back then. Have fun. Fiber arts are addictive though, I have to warn you. LOL Diann Dirks – thegardenladyofga.wordpress.com

    • To carry on the comments about fiber arts, there’s a wonderful little product called the Zoom Loom, which makes woven squares you can then sew together into a blanket or all kinds of things. They are much like the potholder looms we used to use as a child. You can make a little loom, too, with a square wood frame and nails. The cool thing about them is they are small and easy to deal with, and fast. Of course, when you’re finished, there’s a lot of sewing together…Anyway, I look forward to seeing what you do with that wool!

      • Yes, the Zoom Loom would be an easy way to weave a blanket yourself. Or, if you wish to explore other options, I’m the quiet member of the Fellowship, sitting in the corner knitting because my looms are too loud and I don’t want to drown out the conversation. Amy in St Louis, weaver

        • Wow, Amy. i would very much like a woven blanket,in fact more than anything – using white on white with a heavy white thread.. maybe email me and we can work out how i get the wool prepared.. would you have the time for that? and even whether three fleeces would make a little blanket.

          • The weaving is not so difficult – it’s the carding the wool and spinning of the yarn that’s tedious. Can be done little at a time. There all all sorts of looms you can make/use – even from cardboard boxes or scraps of wood for a frame loom or back strap loom. Amy can probably head you in the right direction or the library. (Sometimes you can find good quality looms of all sizes at flea markets, junk shops – generally looms are well made and last even if you have to order a replacement unrusty reed. Another grad student and I made and sold floor looms in college – all metal parts are easily ordered. Universities/summer camps/wool shops often have used looms for sale posted on bulletin boards. ) i had a lovely Canadian floor loom, but moved to off loom fiber sculpture. Still took up a lot of room.
            If you find a nice table loom, you should grab it. Would be a nice activity for your guests. People like that hands on back to roots thing. Weaving fits farm life – and you have sheep. Maybe a grad student would trade room and board to teach you basics or set up the warp on the loom. If you warp with a basic yarn, you can do multiple small projects with one set up. There are weavers guilds and groups maybe you could network with to get the word out or post on your farmy opportunities?

  7. The picture of the man walking is beautifully austere. My favorite today is the bashing about and running away shot of Poppy…she’s a hormone laden character. I’m glad you finally got to walk the ditch again and I’m sure the dogs enjoyed it as well. Here hoping for a standing piggie soon.

  8. Lovely photos… oh, but it still looks so cold there. Your photos are lovely… quiet. Well, except for those playful kitties and hormonal Poppy!! Yesterday we had a load of much-needed rain. I think we will reach 70° today.

  9. I just found loveliness right here. The photos are stunning. You should sell prints of man walking. It is beautiful. Would Venice in black and white too which it practically already is. So well done! An important and beautiful walk.

  10. Can you get a picture of Marcel for us today? It has been a while since we saw his smile.

    Gracie update: not much to say. eating very little and what she does eat is trash food – dog treats. turns her nose up to all the good food I have cooked for her. I got some fresh free range – pet chickens actually – eggs from a farmer near us – I tried scrambled, fried, boiled and raw – to no avail. Even the chicken, chicken water and chicken rice is a no go. Even the homemade yogurt with pumpkin a friend brought me was distasteful. And that is one treat she will fight for usually.

    She still wags her tail, barks at every living thing outside and is bright eyed…. bathroom tasks still all a go and normal. So we wait some more for her…..

    • So hard to offer favorite foods and stand by to see her refuse them. My cat is on a med called mirtazapine for appetite stimulation. I have to give it every third day.so far it is working but very iffy, especially by the third day.

  11. Celi, you can weave. You just don’t know how yet. But for something quick to do with the cleaned and carded fleece, make yourself some felted slippers for round the house. Paint the soles with latex to make them hardwearing and non slip. Admire them smugly: I grew that, I felted that, I’m wearing that.

  12. I can’t believe how flat the land is there! How did a New Zealand girl end up in such flat country?

    Pat – prayers for Gracie. I feel for you. Any time one of my pups is sick I am sicker. I can’t take it. I have no stomach for an ill or injured dog. Right now I am anxiously awaiting cataract surgery for Rudy who just turned 17 last week. He needs the surgery badly – he does not do well blind. At. All. The heart and anesthesiology vets said that the level of anesthesia for eye surgery will be a total breeze for Rudy. He’s a healthy boy. But my heart is in my stomach and I pace pace pace until it is over – March 31. I will pray for you and Gracie every time I pray for me and Rudy.

    • Thank you Lacey. 17 – wow! Gracie is 10 tomorrow. These pet companions are so much a part of our daily lives…. It is the lucky person who has the love and devotion of a pet! Prayers for Rudy!!!

  13. When I was in boarding school I made a runner to put next to my bed using different color sheep wool ( brown and white) . Unfortunately you need a loom that is set up with strong cotton yarn. You tear strings of washed wool (not yarn) and weave them into the cotton yarn. This is easy to do and you end up with a soft beautiful rug. I still have the rug after so many years.

  14. Wise of you to send the wool off for the carding and spinning. One year I attempted to take the wool from sheep to sweater all on my own…after the picking and carding and cleaning and spinning I couldn’t bring myself to actually make anything with it. Nevermind that I didn’t have nearly enough…
    If you do make something, you’ll have to show us!

    • they will be sold, probably to the man on the ridge.. still in the process of finding a buyer actually, but i cannot have sheep AND goats.. the parasites are too close..c

    • This will be your third shearing won’t it? And yes i will take pictures in between sheep moving and such.. They are in their pen chewing and waiting.. c

  15. Celi, I meant to tell you that I love that picture of the Man walking the country side ~ he wants some fresh air again! and of course the shot of Poppy going nuts!! She looks like a dog barking like crazy!

  16. I love the photo of the lone man walking in the distance. It is reminiscent of many beaches on the east coast of Ireland where the tides go out a long way leaving puddles or a mirage effect.

    Is it my imagination, or does that piggy wiggy in the last photo, seem to be standing differently ( remember I am a city gal born and bred!) to me the hind legs seem to be wide apart… ready for action!

  17. What a difference a day makes! Beautiful to be out with you and the Camera House. Actually I love the photo looking back at the totality of the farmy: in my time with you I don’t think I have seen the proportions of all the buildings so clearly. And look at those kitties enjoying their play 🙂 !

    • You re right Eha, that is a Point of View I do not photograph often enough.. (and certainly not in winter) – for all the images you and I process I keep forgetting the wider views..c

    • OMG Mad . . . it took me three scrolls to ‘find’ the first: depends on the angle at least in my case 🙂 !! Of course the ‘title’ should have made my peabrain work!!

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