Looney Llama

Our lady llama is in-your-face nosy.  Most of the time when I try to get a picture of her close-up, this is what happens:

Okay, that’s a little TOO close-up.

It’s Christmas Day!

Everyone at the farm here wishes you a Merry Christmas!  All the people, all the pets, all the farm animals, and most especially, the cat . . .

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

12 Days Of Christmas, Country Style

We do things different in the country.  If our true love sent us presents for 12 days of Christmas, we wouldn’t have any namby-pamby stuff like 12 Lords a leaping or 3 French hens.  No sir.  Here’s how WE’d do it:

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

A Parrot in our pantry!
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On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me. . .

Two Loving Llamas!

and a Parrot in our pantry.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Three frosty sheep!

two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Four Calling Birds!

three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Five Canning Rings!

four calling birds,
three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Six Hens A Laying!

five canning rings,
four calling birds,
three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Seven Turtles Swimming!

six hens a laying,
five canning rings,
four calling birds,
three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Eight Goats For Milking!

seven turtles swimming,
six hens a laying,
five canning rings,
four calling birds,
three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Nine Peacocks Prancing!

eight goats for milking,
seven turtles swimming,
six hens a laying,
five canning rings,
four calling birds,
three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

 

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Ten Roosters Leaping!

nine peacocks prancing,
eight goats for milking,
seven turtles swimming,
six hens a laying,
five canning rings,
four calling birds,
three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Eleven Chicks A Peeping!

ten roosters leaping,
nine peacocks prancing,
eight goats for milking,
seven turtles swimming,
six hens a laying,
five canning rings,
four calling birds,
three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

 

On the twelveth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Twelve Guineas Grazing!

eleven chicks a peeping,
ten roosters leaping,
nine peacocks prancing,
eight goats for milking,
seven turtles swimming,
six hens a laying,
five canning rings,
four calling birds,
three frosty sheep,
two loving llamas,
and a Parrot in our pantry.

 

And THAT’s how we’d do presents for the 12 days of Christmas, country style.

Friday’s Farm Fotos

Time once again for a look at miscellaneous pictures I took around the farm this past week.  This first picture is of Valrhona, one of our Shetland sheep ewes, bedded down in the dry grasses in the main pasture.

The grass is maybe 6-8″ long, and seems to be just perfect for nestling down into it for extra warmth.  All of the 4-legged animals seem to think it’s great!

Once again, the animals are out in the main pasture:

I took this picture from inside the house, looking out the window in the dining area.  The sheep are in the shorter grass areas, grazing the green stuff tucked underneath.  Our Maremma sheep dog, Neffie, likes to stick close, but keeps to the highest vantage point she can find.

Still looking out the window, I saw one of our Buff Orpington hens.

They love to scratch around in the leaves along the fenceline, looking for something tasty to eat.

One of the escapee roosters was doing the same thing around the base of a tree.

I sometimes throw crumbs out there, which they seem to enjoy.

The wild birds like the suet feeders.  Sometimes a Tufted Titmouse comes to visit.

And sometimes these little birds show up in bunches.

I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of birds these are, but can’t find anything that looks *exactly* like them.  The nearest I’ve come up with is an American Tree Sparrow.  But the colors aren’t quite right.

Here’s a couple getting a drink from the birdbath.

And one was sitting on the picket fence.

So, anybody know what this bird is exactly?

Now, I know exactly what THIS bird is.

That’s an immature male cardinal with a punky ATTITUDE.

And I do mean, ATTITUDE.

I think his mohawk “hairdo” looked pretty cool.  Bet he thinks he’s a read macho dude!

Our farm collie, Toby, isn’t so much macho as goofy.  The minute we go outside, he runs around like an idiot trying to find a stick to carry.  It doesn’t matter if it’s toothpick sized or a log.

Sometimes he gets sticks that are so big he can barely drag them around.

He and Neffie seem to enjoy grooming each other, each though they are both “fixed.”

Later in the week I saw a Northern Mockingbird getting a drink from the birdbath.

The cardinals also visit the birdbath.

Sometimes even the chickens hop up for a drink from the birdbath, like this little Golden Sebright Bantam hen.

Glancing through all these pictures, you might get the idea things are pretty fowl around here.  From the looks of all these guineas following our male llama around, I’d say you’d be right.

We’ve got all kinds of birdbrains outside and inside.   This one on the inside is hanging from the curtain on the back door. . .

And bidding you GOOD-BY!

Backyard Chicken Raising

There are a couple of orphaned chicks on the farm.  I really think they belong to Peepers, but hatched out after she had already left the nest.  I made them into pet chickens and kept them in a birdcage on the back porch until a week or so ago.

By then they were getting a little big for the cage, and I figured they could fend for themselves.  I decided it was time to turn them loose, but first I wanted to introduce them to the other critters.

So The Farmer carried the cage out into the backyard for me.  It wasn’t long until our two most curious creatures were checking the new chicks out.

Hey Lady, WHAT are these little critters???

The sheep were a little more wary, and just looked on from what they considered a safe distance.

Whatever they are, we’re not going near them!

However, with Cinnamon the goat and Keira the llama, curiosity wins out over caution.

Let’s get a closer look at these pet chickens that crazy lady put out here.

I guess since nothing jumped out at them, they decided to move even closer.

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Even the guineas decided they needed to check out this strange contraption and it’s inhabitants.

We don’t care if they ARE your pet chickens, we don’t share our food!

One guinea decided to get up close and personal to check out these newcomers.

You don’t look so tough!

Neffie gave me the evil eye, no doubt figuring I was just making more work for her.

Thanks a lot… that’s two more critters I have to watch over!

I finally opened the door so they could come out.

They were a little tentative at first, but it didn’t take them long to want to get out and explore.

That was when some of the old Buff Orpington hens decided it was time to check out these new additions to the backyard flock.

Hey look! There’s some new youngsters!

Now they’re right out there with the rest of the chickens every morning, looking to see what I’ll throw out for them to eat.

They seem to have blended in okay with the rest of the chickens, and are growing fast.

I love my little chickens.