I’ve been absent, but not idle
What can one person be doing away from their blog for about a week and a half? Well a lot, and though I can’t think of everything to list here I do have some fun little tidbits to share with you.
My first big accomplishment is sewing lessons on Wednesdays. I made this bag last week and though you’re thinking, “Oh wow, all in one day!?” I kinda cheated as it was a kit and the 5″ squares were cut out already. I did have to cut out the interfacing, the lining and the handles though so it did take all day when that sort of kit would probably take a savvy sewer only a few hours. It was fun though and I’m proud to say my teacher said that I caught on very quickly, she was surprised.
Here is the second bag that I started today. All the 5″ squares are sewn together and though my teacher wasn’t there today (I do this in the midst of a bunch of ladies doing various things at the community church), I got through it fast and retained my lessons from last week. I did chicken out when it came to ironing on the interfacing without her but it was okay to quit by then as Annie was definitely due for a nap. Hopefully I’ll finish it next Wednesday.
Last Thursday I had a Stampin Up! workshop and created this little bookmark for my Bible. It is made using a watermark type of stamp that is clear called Versamark then I dab on the pastels with sponges and spray with a clear sealer to keep the pastels from smudging. Cute huh!?
Next we brought home my new sheep, well they aren’t exactly new to me as I got them last fall but they’re new to our property because they’ve been living at my mother-in-law’s house being bred to our ram Raider. Raider is now back with the dudes in the Dude Pen here on Mud Ranch so now we have the Four Dudes Who Did instead of the Three.
They have mingled a bit with my existent sheep but you can sure tell who they are by looking out in to the pasture… They aren’t real secure yet. They do come up and say hi to me though and they come in the barn at night without a problem so I’m betting they’ll make new friends here real soon. I am definitely figuring out my favorites though one of which is Kiara. She’s beautiful!
Last, but certainly not least, I received a lovely little note from a happy customer! I love receiving mail and when it was from Mary at Shadow Mountain Jacobs with a fleece sample from a ram lamb I sold her last spring, I was sure excited. I certainly don’t know a whole lot about wool yet so was happy to see that she explained a few things to me and I was able to compare the fleeces. Here’s a tidbit of what she had to say about it, “I am very pleased with his fleece quality. The locks are open, with a nice even crimp and the color is also very nice. The luster is also above average. I had it micron tested and his average fiber width is 27 microns which is on the finer side.” I have been trying to learn more and more about the Jacob’s wool as I’d like to start processing and using it in the future but am taking it one step at a time.
I opened the bag to take a good look at Packard’s fleece and was really happy with how soft it felt. It really is lovely! I’m hoping he passes it on to his lambs too, and am thankful to Mary for sending it out to me. Don’t you just love the chocolate brown of that color?
That’s all for now, I hope you’re all doing well.
My Little Red Wagon
Hi all, this is Annie. I haven’t been on here too much lately simply because I am just too busy. I have so many things that need to get done, and so little time. I apologize for my absence.
Nana and Papa got me a little red wagon for Christmas, and notice it has a stake bed. I will be able to pile all sorts of things in it this summer and pull it around myself. I have grand plans of building monstrosities that require much engineering and time so I can’t imagine I will be around much in the future, though the days will be longer so I might after-all.
Nana worries that I get tired on our excursions so I humor her and hop in the wagon. It is a fairly comfortable ride and the good thing is I don’t have to watch where I am driving.
I have noticed that if a steep hill is coming, Nana has no problem handing the driving over to Papa. I believe this is a smart tactical move on Nana’s part.
My little red wagon and I have many days in the future of which to enjoy eachother’s company. I know that the two of us will be very satisified in our relationship.
Be good, keep in touch~
Annie
Behind the Scenes
Do you ever wonder what is happening while I am taking photos? Did you wonder if I ever had trouble, if I was ever pestered, if I ever got blurry pictures because of my lens being nudged? This post should answer all of your questions…
The answer? Yes, goodness yes. The culprit?…
“Whaaat?”
Developing Lambs – Jan ’09
“Nova” – I am very pleased with him so far. The excellent news is that his “hitch” has gone away after all! Yippee! I was so bummed to see him with a lame leg, but he is walking perfectly sound now. He is so stunning! I hope his horns come in good, they seem to be nice so far, all four are strong and well spaced.
“Bubbles” – Perfectly healthy, perfectly beautiful lilac ewe lamb. Her only problem is the loud mouth she inherited from her mom Lily. You wouldn’t believe the mouths on these girls! Bubbles is loud when she doesn’t know where her mom wandered to, and Lily will let the whole county know if I’m late to feed.
“Holly” - Practically perfect in every way. This is the sweetest ewe lamb, beautiful, lovely in every way and so relaxed just like her mama “Nell.” I love her markings too, nice little round spots. So cute!
The other good news is I am passed the “magical date” so every lamb born now is legit! Yay! I will be snatching up all the ram lambs at three months old from now on and moving them out of the flock. Thanks to my trusty crook, I’ll have no problem accomplishing that task.
A Sunshiney Afternoon
Aaahhh, the glowing look of pregnancy.
I hope we’ve warmed your heart, and your bones, wherever you are.
New Addition to the Flock – Daisy
Things were getting a little too, well, dreamy around here with that Orton effect so I thought I would introduce the newest addition to our flock – Crazy Daisy.
Being that her wool isn’t all that long yet and it has been getting in the 20′s outside at night, I decided to let her in the house. She seems to be the perfect house guest so far but I kind of have to question her choice in sleeping spots being that it’s on the trivet on the kitchen counter.
Why Daisy! What’s wrong? Don’t you like it in our cozy little house? I can’t imagine why you’d have such a look on your face, I was hoping you’d be comfortable here!
What on earth…!
Daisy…!
…The door is this way…!
Oh no! My Daisy, my dear sweet Daisy!
Daisy! Wipe that smirk off your face!
Post Script: Daisy is actually a cow, but we thought she looked more like a sheep due to her little rounded (fill in the blanks). We shall continue to call her a sheep because that is what we feel like doing. No sheep were harmed in the making of this post, and no, Daisy did not end up sleeping outside.
What has she taught my sweet little baby!? Somebody help!
My Orton’ed Horses
Now that was some fun evening light, and blended well with the Orton effect.
The Orton Effect
The Orton effect actually became a step or process by Micheal Orton first, with slide film. It consisted of two shots, the first being sharp but overexposed by two f-stops and the second being out of focus and over exposed by one f-stop. The two shots were then sandwiched together to create a beautiful, impressionistic picture.
I took this photo in May of ’08 in a forest not to far from my house on a very scenic drive to the Big Town. The blooming tree is a Dogwood and the afternoon light filtered through the trees just as I wanted them to. I recently remembered the Orton effect and applied it to this picture, only using Photoshop. I think that the Orton effect works wonders on trees, flowers, and nature scenes but in some cases can look marvelous in other settings. You can play around with it to see how you like it…
In Photoshop (any kind):
- Open your image.
- Duplicate your layer by hitting CTRL-J.
- Name your duplcated layer “Sharp.”
- Duplicate your “Sharp” layer, now called “Sharp copy.”
- Change “Sharp copy’s” blending mode to Screen.
- With the “Sharp copy” layer selected, right click and choose Merge Down.
- Duplicate your “Sharp” layer once more (CTRL-J).
- Name your new layer, “Out of Focus.”
- With “Out of Focus” selected, go up to Filter, Blur, Gaussian Blur. Choose a blur amount that blurs the whole picture where shapes are still visible but no detail. I did a 15.9.
- Change the blending mode of “Out of Focus” to Multiply.
Voila! You now have the Orton effect applied to your photograph. As always, you may want to play with the opacity of your layers and/or the contrast and sharpness of your Sharp layer. I didn’t think I needed to tweak my Sharp layer but put on some added sharpness and it looked even better so play around with it and enjoy!
Doreman Burns Necklace
I checked my mailbox the other day and had a surprise package from my friend Lana down in Arizona. She is a “customer” of mine, turned friend. She bought a mare from me a while back, a favorite of mine actually. I did a little post on Belle a while back with her cute little fly mask on.
Not bad for a self-portrait with a digital SLR camera… pure luck was what it was.
But this is what was in that little package! Lana remembered that I did a post a while back on Doreman Burns prints and had everyone pick which one best matched them, and why. It was fun and I got a lot of response. I picked this good lookin’ lady because she wasn’t totally clean, like she’d been working outside, she had blonde hair and lived in the pines. She reminded me of well… me. So I added her to my blog on the right hand side and made her mine. Lana then sent me this necklace that is made by her cousin who is making multiple necklaces from Doreman Burns prints. If you’d like one for your self, I can probably get you the contact information so that you can hash out with Lana’s cousin on how to get your own girl strung on some wire. Then we’d all know which one was you.
Annie’s Girlfriends
I think it was the day after Christmas and we invited some friends of ours over. It so happens that they have four little girls ages from 8 down to a year, though the one year old isn’t in the picture I’m sure she was hanging on her mom. But their three older girls had so much fun with Annie. And Annie was quite the hostesss.
When the girls showed up that night, Annie ran all over the house “talking” as loud as she could and showing them all her cool toys and her bright green room! She sat down with them for dinner and kept the conversation alive and made sure that Dada was there to supply all their needs, from fresh baked bread (provided by their mama) to cranberry juice. Annie was in her element and it was so fun to see what a big girl she is becoming, and becoming quite like her Dada… an entertainer.
Champagne Bubbles
That’s the new name of our newest illegitimate… err… lamb. She was born on December 30, 2008 to Mud Ranch’s Lily and a lucky papa, my best guess would be Mud Ranch’s Packard, and that’s okay because he’s handsome. Though this little gal’s name is kinda fancy, it was the only thing I could come up with as a “New Year’s” name. We’ll call her Bubbles for short.
She’s a lilac in color with very dainty, though very “bubbly” markings. I think she’s pretty sweet looking.
Lily is pretty proud of her too… Oh, and this is the Lily that was named Easter Lily because she was born on Easter Sunday. Funny all the holiday sheep around here.
So far, so good with this little lamb and though she is illegitimate, she is a joy to have in the pasture. When life gives you lemons, you’re supposed to make lemonade right?
Here’s an updated picture of Holly too. I figured you’d want to see her and Nova but we’ll talk about him in a second. The day that Bubbles was born, which was at about 1:00pm out in the pasture right before my eyes while I did dishes (I’m not a worrisome G-Ma), I was waiting on three families to show up each having 4 children. Yeah, that’s right 12 kids all at once and then my other friend who also had 4 kids showed up on accident at the same time, so my numbers jumped to 16! They all wanted to see the new lambs. Cordelia and Nova were still locked in a stall, I wasn’t comfy with letting him out yet so I had Nell and Holly be the guinea pigs and come meet the crowd. I got Nell into the aisle of the barn and closed the doors. While I held Holly, Nell ran around and sniffed everybody while Holly got lots of love and kisses. She seemed to eat it up! I thought it was pretty funny how relaxed she sat in my arms just looking around at all the faces. I hope she stays this way.
Nova, however, was in the guarded stall with eyes peering over the walls watching him. One little girl requested that she go in the stall to see him and of course was not allowed. Being that Cordelia is an overprotective mom, I didn’t think it was a good idea.
He is a very pretty lamb and I love his markings. Nova does have a “hitch in his get-along” though, so I am thinking he will be freezer meat by the time it’s all said and done. I don’t know why he has a bum leg, (I believe it’s the left rear) but he did have it from birth and I thought maybe it was like that due to how he was “packaged” in the womb. But, it hasn’t gone away so I’m thinking its permanent. So, I will enjoy watching him for now and possibly keep his pelt when we’re all said and done. It’s so splashy! Just keeping it real here at Mud Ranch. 
And the winner is…
This morning I went on to random.org and had that little machine in the numbers department pick a random number, from 1-13 (being that the last two comments don’t count, it worked out well).
The lucky winning number was my favorite number 7! My cousin Kate is the lucky winner of my hand crocheted scarf, and being that she lives in Pennsyltucky I know she’ll have plenty of opportunities to use it.
I hope you like it Kate! And being that you’re my cousin, there’s no need to send me your address… I’ve got it.
Thanks everybody and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And Danielle, you mentioned you’re in Boulder… So is my brother. I think my Dad (see comments on the giveaway thread) wanted you to know that. 
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