I remember back in grade school being asked to figure out how old we were going to be in the year 2000. 2000 was sooo far away. We were going to be in our 40s! 2000 is now just as far away...but the other direction. I can't believe we are preparing for 2024.
Once again we are offering a farm calendar for sale. These calendars started as just a fun way to share some pictures with friends and family, but gratefully grew into a "bake sale" way to help our small flock of sheep support themselves.
I had a good group of photos to choose from this year and I was drawn to the quiet peace in all of them, especially sweet Maggie, who starts the year. I find her picture especially meditational and I hope it creates great ripples of calm throughout the rest of the year.
There are of course pictures of the horses and cats and I've already shown a preview of Bea's month. There is a special guest in the B Garden and two of the biggest characters on the farm each get a feature as well and a couple other beloved characters round out the year.
Once again I added a short story to each month and even added one of those new fangled QR codes to further tell the story on one month. Lots of mini pictures fill in the blank spaces and add extra fun and tell further mini photo stories.
I've had a few requests for note cards the last two years. I'm hoping that's a sign that letter writing or at least thank you notes might be coming back in style. I wonder if that's a holdover from the Covid lockdown as I'd had no inquiries about farm cards in several years prior.
I love getting notes in the mail, but have been guilty myself in not sending them. This year we made a set of note cards to go with the calendars and I really like the idea. I hope you do as well. Maybe pick a favorite picture (with the story on the back) and drop it in the mail to a special friend and make their day :-).
It is still unrealistic for a small farm to "upgrade" to a fancy online shop site so once again we are doing the old time ordering system where you send me an email letting me know what you'd like and where it should be shipped and I'll include an invoice and return envelope in your package. Add an extra note if you'd like :-).
Those notes are how I learned that several of you don't turn the calendar pages until it's time so that each month is a surprise. I love that idea and now do that myself. Even though I made the calendar, by about March I've forgotten who comes next. I love being surprised.
That spoiler factor is also why I've put all the boring text up here and hidden the sneak peek calendar and card shots below. Don't look if you don't want to! Or you can peek...but goreallyfast ;-).
2024 Equinox Farm Calendar $25.00
Companion Calendar Note Cards $12.50
Buy together and save $5.00 $32.50
Extra note: Auntie Reg and I have made up some fun 'make your own' wool wreath ornament kits. Since the calendars are so late getting listed and the holidays are at least a month early this year (right?) there could be a postage saving overlap if anyone is interested. I'm going to do my best to add them to the website today and share them to the blog tomorrow.
Sweet Maggie always checks in with me when I'm in the barn or barn lot. I've mentioned before about there being some animals who look at me and she is one. There is a difference between looking and watching. Everyone watches me (I might have treats ;-), but only a few really look at me (if I don't have treats ;-).
She has also taken on the role of night guardian now that Maisie has moved up front to Easy Breezy. I frequently find her resting comfortably just behind the barn at night, keeping an eye and ear to the back. Sometimes her brother will sit with her, but he's not quite as dedicated. She's a good sheep.
Of course Murphy got his own month. If you'd have told me even just a year ago that I'd be featuring him in the calendar, I'd have laughed. "Yeah, right. That obnoxious pain in the butt? Not a chance." What an interesting sheep. That story line was probably the highlight of the year.
I hope enough folks know how to use a QR code by now. I'm so behind on technology that I figure if I know how to use it, most everyone else does as well. If not, the box links to
that amazing story about the sheep coats.
Plenty of sheep, horse and corgi shenanigans :-)
And everyone can spend an entire month staring at Archie sleeping.
"Dis my home."
I wanted to get a good high resolution picture of Pinto jumping in or out of the arena, but after an early spring drought turned into a rainy summer of good grass everywhere and Pinto didn't need to go looking for greener pastures I was worried that he'd outgrown his fence jumping days. Not to worry :-).
This picture got moved into the calendar at the last minute after I received so many comments about it needing to be there. I love seeing "That's a calendar shot!" throughout the year. I had not even considered this one as I was afraid it wouldn't print well, but everyone was right. It's a perfect choice. It made a lovely note card as well.
If you've made it this far, you get one more story...and it's a funny one. Tim has a machine that creases and folds items like cards. When he brought home the box of card sets there was a loose bundle on top of the box. "That's not a complete set. One of the cards got jammed in the creaser."
Yep, it was Maisie's ;-).
