Itsumo Mawaru

Here is the second set of stamps I carved for the stamp swap I participated in. This person’s theme was tattoo flash. Ideas that went through my mind included a I love Mom tattoo, the traditional anchor tattoo, and even a koi fish. The idea of a pin up girl was right in there of course. I really like how the rose turned out, you can see the closed-up center portion very clearly, though truth be said I am proud of all of these stamps. I think my pin up girl started looking a bit like Counselor Troi from Star Trek TNG but hey that’s life!

Best of all, Canada Post delivered these stamps in under 18 hours, from dropping it off here in Alfred to being signed for in Toronto. That certainly made up for the $8 tracking number I chose to put on it!

Hi readers! I haven’t been posting here too often, have I? Indeed I am posting a lot over at the farm’s blog.

But here is a special post with some pictures of crafts I’ve done recently.

I participated in a stamp swap with two other Canadians. One partner sent me this quartet of stamps. She did a great job on my logo stamp and it’s so hefty that it stamps wonderfully and authoritatively. I will get a lot of use out of it! In fact I used all but the sewing machine stamp when I replied to a friend’s wedding invitation. Yup, I stamped the heck out of the return envelope

This is  a set I made for one of my partners. It’s The Veggie Bunch. They were super fun to carve. I’ll make up a set for myself eventually.

I am waiting for the second partner to post pictures of my stamps before I post the picture here. Her theme was tattoos, so those stamps were things I had never really carved before and were a lot of fun to carve as well.

Oh, and what’s that secret stamp on the letter? It’s a sneak preview of one stamp in my first series of Farm Sketches prints! I’ve been casually sketching and carving stamps based on living here on the farm. In the near future I will be making some prints involving these stamps for people to purchase. Since most of the proceeds go right back into the farm and animals, it’s a great way to support the farm and get something of value in return. These prints will range in size from business card individual prints to 8.5×11 montages, and as with most of my creations, will be available in the best of colors: rainbow!

Attention readers. I have an announcement to make.

I love my little boys! Look at Volcano God! Those tender loving eyes! That pink nose! (Yes, it changed from black to pink, how magical!) That timid but inquisitive attitude! That frosted mouth and white ears! That soft and luxurious fleece! And best of all, he’s now in the mood to come and say hello (if you don’t spook him by moving suddenly) and accept pets and snuggles. I feel confident that I have picked a great herd sire. He’s like a super better nicer version of Frankie.

Who would have ever thought sheep would give me so much pleasure? Look at little Peebs. Well he’s not so little anymore! I can still pick him up, barely, but the next time I do so I’ll probably end up injuring myself. He’s still as full of love as always, and he’ll tell you when you aren’t snuggling him enough. Look at that gorgeous fleece. It’s crimpy and jet black at its base, although I did see one grey hair mixed in so I expect he’s not a pure super black. This is the kind of sheep I want to raise, personable but not aggressive, soft and loving and happy.

And my golden boy, Price. The timidest of them all, he still won’t come up for pets. But since his older brother is, I expect he will soon. His horns are growing faster than Volcano God’s. He also has a chocolate brown nose. How can twins from the same mom and dad be so different! This is part of the wonders of Shetland sheep, their natural color spectrum and varied genetics means your sheep aren’t carbon copies of each other.

I honestly had no clue how happy these guys would make me. No matter how you feel, no matter what the weather is like, these guys are always there ready to distract you from your worries. They have no worries of their own. They live happy fun-filled lives. In fact, I’m pretty sure sheep are happy batteries, they save up their daily happiness and share it with you when you snuggle them. I never knew that my life was incomplete without these sheep. Now that they are with me, I could never think of letting them go.

Everything and everyone is growing like crazy. The tomatoes have long since expanded past their racks, next year we will need to make a super support for them! We even have one baby cauliflower growing!

Cleaning out the barn by hand is probably the most hellish task I’ve ever had to do in my life, especially when the weather is 40 degrees C. And that’s with a ton of help. Being a farmer without any type of heavy implement seriously impedes your ability to do anything. As a farmer, you need to spend money to make money, else you’re spending time to get a fraction of the benefit.

One of the spotted hens hatched her eggs yesterday. We moved her inside just to be safe. There’s 4 so far and 3 eggs yet to be hatched – two gold ones, one black and gold one, and one black one. How cute

Jane and her duckies are doing great. The duckies grow bigger every day. They still have little tiny wings, and when they get wet they stand up high on their duck feet and flap their little nubs around, just like a T-Rex would. It’s so adorable!  Jane has gone back to cooing instead of squeaking, and is willing to fly up to the deck for food again.

The turkeys are doing great, but as they get bigger it becomes so apparent how dumb they are. We will be letting them outside soon, clipping a wing to make sure they don’t fly away.

Rabbits are enjoying the outside weather, though I think I’ll be bringing Riker inside with this hot weather.

I am participating in a stamp swap with two other Canadian gals. I have completed carving a set of stamps for one partner and am getting inspiration to carve up the other partner’s stamp(s). The completed ones are so cute I wish I could keep them, but it’s good knowing they’ll be off to a home where they’ll be appreciated!