Check out this mud puppy next to Sabine.

As the snow melts, we move from winter into mud season, that short but seemingly-endless time between Winter and Spring.  Yuck.

Everyone is Jonesing for green grass, green leaves, green anything.

The ewes are knee-deep in mud and fed-up. How many days till Spring?

Sorry for the infrequent posting of late: our internet access has been whacked out for about a week, making it especially difficult to upload photos. The situation seems to be improving, though, so expect more pics all week.

In share news, we are prepping the undyed Fall Shares for shipment now. The first batch will be going out tomorrow!

Can I be honest? I was kind of dreading getting back to the farm today. I missed my flock and my dogs and even my bed, but the lack of electricity and company were daunting. (Paige is in California visiting her father this week.) I not in the mood for roughing it in my own home.

But once I pulled into the driveway I felt my equilibrium was restored. The farm looked absolutely beautiful and it was so quiet and peaceful.

We have a few trees down.

Our driveway still hasn’t been plowed, so I had to park by the road.

Of course, my first stop was the barn to check on the lambs and kids. Dimples was modeling some serious hay-head.

The dogs were super-happy to see me.

We brought the little lambs into the barn during the storm. They don’t have as much body fat as the big sheep and they were looking a little miserable.

They were happy to see me too,

but only because I had a pocket full of animal crackers.

I love the chicken footprints in the snow.

The snow hasn’t stopped the hens from laying.

Alabama (right) is now officially bigger than his mama, Daisy (left).

It was so great to be home that not having electricity or running water didn’t seem like such a big deal. Which is good, because it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting power back tonight. And tomorrow? More snow!

Yesterday, 13,000 of my neighbors and I lost power for about 12 hours. Honestly, it wasn’t a huge deal. I spent the day reading and napping instead of sewing and blogging. Our house is new and very solidly built, so it didn’t even cool off all that much.

Losing power at my house also means losing water and phone service. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet called Tosh to ask him to plow when the power went out, so I was stuck at home for a bit. Because Tosh is my hero, he showed up on his own around three, but by then it was to close to time to feed the animals for me to go into Charlottesville.

It was a lovely, quiet day here. Luckily, my camera batteries were charged and I can share some of it with you.

I am so full of gratitude these days. That I get to live in such a beautiful place. That I get to live this life. I’ve never felt more at home.

I’m spending the weekend off the farm in Washington D.C. but I had to share these pics with you.This is Cini as a puppy.

Cini now.

Sabine, five minutes old.

Sabine at two days old.

Sabine at six weeks old.

Sabine now.

Lucy

Lucy again.

One of the great joys of my life has been watching these dogs grow from tiny puppies into loyal, reliable dogs whose life work is to protect their flock.

Before you know it, Lucy and Cini will be having puppies of their own.

Sometimes, I really can’t believe how lucky I am.

I left the house today for the first time since Thursday.

It was highly over-rated.

I’m beginning to think I would be the perfect candidate for house arrest.

Tomorrow I’m staying home.

Bring on the snow.

The lovely

and amazing

and speedy

Miss Luccia. Commonly known as Lucy.

Thanks so much to everyone for your suggestions. I really, really wanted to like Luna but it just didn’t feel right. I was really drawn to Wendy’s suggestion:

Then my mom called and suggested Lucy and I knew we had a winner.

Lucy is a snuggle bug. When I go out the barn to check on her, she immediately climbs into my lap, buries her head in my shoulder and snoozes. She reminds me so much of Biscotti at this age.

I can’t wait for you all to meet Lucy. Don’t forget, we’re having a Solstice Party on December 19th here at the farm. It’s potluck and all are welcome.

Thanks so much for all of your great name suggestions. I’ve actually picked a name from the comments but I want to live with it for couple of days just to be sure before I tell you.

Today was the day I got to go pick out a new puppy.

A puppy. As in “only one puppy.”

Only one of these adorable, roly-poly, puppy-breath having puppies. Honestly, I thought I would never be able to pick one.

I wanted to take each and every one of them with me.

Their adorable antics weren’t making the decision any easier.

I had very nearly given up hope.

And then I saw her. And fell head-over-heals in love.

Meet the newest member of the Juniper Moon flock.

It was nearly dark when we got back to the farm but I managed to get a couple quick pics.

I’ll take lots more photos tomorrow. For tonight, she’s sleeping in the barn with the goats and Miss Linda.

I would love your suggestions for names for our new little Maremma. Ideally, I’d like something that goes well with Fettucini and Sabine. The dogs are Italian and stay white their whole lives. I’ve got a couple of ideas but nothing I love, so help me out!

I would like to thank the group of shareholders that started a puppy fund about this time last year when we lost Biscotti. Without your generosity this never would have happened. XO