31 October 2015

Hug a Sheep Day 2015

2 comments
Today is Hug a Sheep Day. For anyone newish to the blog, Suckie is a pet ewe who turned 10 back in February. She walks better on a lead than most of the dogs. She loves food, but one thing she doesn't like is hugs!


To celebrate Hug a Sheep Day, I wanted to get a photo of Suckie and I having a hug. I asked Dad to take our picture. I did try to hug her, but Suckie was having none of it. So...

Happy Scratching Suckie on the Chin Day!


"Mmm, that's the spot..."



I took the camera back (I prefer to be on this side anyway) and Dad stroked Suckie. She liked that.


My Dad is often mentioned but only glimpses of him have been seen on this blog... until now!


A Suckie Selfie.


Blue Belle was watching proceedings and looking a bit gloomy.

"Where is my hug?


Some photos of Suckie looking gorgeous.




Thanks to Punkin's Patch for creating Hug a Sheep Day!

HAPPY HUG A SHEEP DAY and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

30 October 2015

We Five Pumpkins

4 comments
I was inspired, this year, to recreate a little photoshoot I had five years ago (here). I bought two pumpkins (not overpriced this time) and brought a straw bale into the garden. Jess helped me to find the correct spot.

Nope.


Nope.


Jess managed to find a spot in the garden that made it feel like summer again.


Now this is the right spot.


I set the pumpkins on the bale. Jess didn't want to go near them at first, but she soon relaxed.



I thought taking these photos would be easy, but it was in fact extremely difficult. My photography has changed so much in the past five years, it felt wrong to take them like this. I considered moving locations, but then that would have defeated the purpose.

Jess wasn't around five years ago, but Pip was...



Ahehe! Little Pip! Isn't she adorable?

Next up was Sheila.



And here she is, five years ago.


...Not much has changed there, really. While Sheila was sitting on the bale, one of the pumpkins made the fatal mistake of rolling off. Attack!




Teddy was next. This is his first time meeting a pumpkin. The second pumpkin was taking some time off to recover from Sheila's attack.



Unlike Teddy, Ben was around five years ago. He went from this...


To this...


Handsome devil.

27 October 2015

Little Farm in the Big City

3 comments
On Friday, Dad and I drove to the city to visit Paul, who is something of a model - and real - farm enthusiast. My Dad has a sizable collection of model farm machinery himself, so there was much to discuss. One of Paul's tractors:


My Dad has one like this, in a similar "played with" condition. (That was sort of my fault. Oops...)

Paul's Little Grey Fergie, coming out of a shed he made himself.


There was, however, a purpose to our visit. Paul wanted to see with his own eyes a model of my Dad's, which he has never played with and kept in its box since he bought it, over forty years ago. Paul set up a "studio" and took photos. I took some photos too...



Some more of Dad's models fell under the spotlight. I remember playing with this one. It's amazing it looks as well as it does.


Dad's only other "Mint In Box" model is this little lorry.


And while we three humans talked models, farming, and nostalgia, Jupy the cat had a nap on top of coats.


Thanks for the fun afternoon, Paul!

26 October 2015

Man About Town

3 comments
Ben was very excited when I had to go to town to run a few errands and decided to bring him with me. As soon as I had the car parked he wanted out!


There are lots of distracting noises and smells in the town, but Ben took most of it in his stride.


I had to go into the butcher's. Ben had to wait outside. Thankfully he had a good view of me through the door.


He was very happy to see me come out.


Outside the newsagents, we met the adorable Louis.


Errands completed, I realised we had some time left, so we walked to the other end of town.


As I was taking the following two photos, people were remarking that Ben seemed to smile when I pointed the camera at him, and that he must be tied to stay on the wall like that.



Well, if you read this blog, you'll know that standing on a wall is not bother for any of my dogs! I was really proud of Ben for staying on this occasion, though, because of all the distractions. Good man.

25 October 2015

Black & White Sunday #7 ::: The Chainsaw Noise

3 comments
Dad and I have been sawing and splitting sticks for well over a week now. Workmen trimmed trees on the edge of some of our land, so we've ended up with six (and counting) trailer loads of sticks. I've seen enough wood to last me a lifetime. The stick house is filling up nicely, and it's good to know that we'll be warm and snug this coming winter.

Preparing the sticks, however, is very mundane and repetitive. So I like to have a handful of dogs in the shed with us. Samson, when he was still here, liked to play with Ben. Teddy and Sheila just sniff around and come over for cuddles when your hands are too full of sticks to give them what they want. Smaller sticks will occasionally go missing, and larger ones may end up with chewed corners.

Pip, on the other paw, is a totally different pile of sticks. She is scared of the chainsaw and runs off to hide, usually behind some machinery.


Jess lies by the door but otherwise keeps her distance. Now and again she'll dart a bit closer and steal a stick.


The dogs are quite distracting. We're nearly finished with the sticks at long last. If it wasn't for the dogs we'd probably have gotten the job done sooner, but then, where's the fun in that?


Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

24 October 2015

It's Rude to Collie Stare

2 comments
I've been attempting to get autumnal photos of all the dogs. I found a nice spot for Sheila's photos. But Sheila just can't switch off, and spent most of the time she was on the wall staring at Suckie, who was in the field at the time. I tried to coax her to lie down with a treat, but I got this half-hearted attempt instead.


As long as Sheila was on the wall, Suckie wasn't too worried.


I don't think anyone ever told Sheila that it was rude to Collie Stare.


Sometimes I did manage to get Sheila's attention.


Mostly.


At last! She is lying down.


The tail in working position.


We moved along the wall, closer to the tree.




Beautiful girl.