One final post for November. . .

and that is to announce that we had an unexpected snow storm this afternoon, and now there is a 3" blanket of snow covering the farm.

All of a sudden, it looks quite a bit more Christmas-like outside! :-)

Thanksgiving Weekend

We're enjoying this Thanksgiving weekend and the weather really couldn't be nicer. We've had a couple of dustings of snow, but nothing substantial and it's been warm enough each day to melt it again. The ponies are quite happy and content in their pastures and are enjoying the pleasant weather.



We had so much fun with our book giveaway that we're getting ready to hold another one. :-) Check back very soon for details on the next prize!!!



In other news, Samantha and Dan's 2008 book, Horse Breeds: 65 Popular Horse, Pony, and Draft Horse Breeds has been doing well in sales and was #8 in the Horse category on Amazon yesterday--this book makes an excellent gift for the upcoming holiday season. Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Horse-Breeds-Popular-Pony-Draft/dp/0760332657/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259468149&sr=8-1

We'll close with a couple of photos for your viewing pleasure. :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 25th. . .

. . . and we're still without snow!

They're predicting a bit for tomorrow, but the temperatures are still warming into the upper 30s and low 40s each day, so it shouldn't stick for long. We've been enjoying the extra-long autumn season and are looking forward to the Thanksgiving weekend. We should have new photos to share over the weekend, so be sure to check back soon. :-)

The Winner!!

Thanks to everyone who entered to win our book giveaway over the weekend--we had a lot of fun reading your responses to the question: What is your favorite farm animal? Your replies were wonderful! Many of you had difficulty in choosing from among all of your favorite farm animals--everybody loves their farm animals, and so do we! :-) We had such a hard time choosing a winner that we ended up putting all of the entries in a hat and randomly selected a winner.

And the winner is. . . . "Pony!"

Congratulations--you've won a copy of The Quotable Farm Animal! Drop us a note at welshponies@miraclewelsh.com and we'll get your copy sent off to you right away. Enjoy!! Everyone else--check back again soon, because we're planning to give away more books during the upcoming holiday season. :-)

Thanks to everyone that entered!

Book Giveaway!

We're happy to say that we're having a book giveaway here over the weekend, and so here's your chance to enter to win a copy of The Quotable Farm Animal. This is a small hardback gift book, published by MBI Publishing. The book is filled with full-color photography of farm animals, accompanied by inspirational quotes.





To enter, simply leave a comment on this post, answering this question: "What is your favorite farm animal?" Entries will close at noon on Monday the 22nd, and the winner will be announced on Monday evening.



Have fun!!! :-)

Some Things are Just Too Cute. . .

. . . to resist sharing! During a recent photo session, 5-month-old Louie had lots of fun playing with a set of plastic toy bowling pins. He tipped every single one over and then played with the fallen pins. It was a treat to watch him enjoying himself, everyone was laughing! :-)

Candy Boards: Part II

It was another busy day in the candy board factory today. :-) Three additional batches of candy mixture were prepared today, and these should be sufficient to carry our bees through the winter, hopefully. Tomorrow's project: adding the candy boards to the hives.

Empty branches

The leaves are gone from the maple trees, and now we are left with empty branches. The blue sky is cheering, however! :-) The fact that it's November 13th and there is NO snow is another reason for cheer. :-)

We're working towards meeting some important deadlines on Monday, so please forgive the short posts these past few days. We do have some exciting news to post about, so hopefully we'll have a chance to get to that tomorrow. Stay tuned! :-)

Golden Leaves

Busy as Bees

The weather over the past few days has been simply splendid. Sunshine, temperatures in the 50's and 60's. . . calm winds and puffy clouds.

We worked outdoors for much of today. . . we're inching our way towards finishing up our pre-winter projects, but it would help if this fabulous weather would hold out for a little while longer. :-)

But then again, weather like this in November could go on forever, as far as I'm concerned. :-)

"Exclusively Etsy"

Don't miss the January/February 2010 issue of Hobby Farm Home magazine. Samantha's article, "Exclusively Etsy" appears in this issue. Check it out! :-)

Autumn Leaves

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.

Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.

The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy,

While cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

-John Muir

Candy Boards

Today we had a very important project to undertake: making candy boards for the bee hives.

What, you may ask, are candy boards? Excellent question! Candy boards provide food for our bees during the winter, so that our colonies can survive through the harsh winter months.

While making candy boards isn't a quick process, it is relatively simple. A mixture of sugar, corn syrup, water, and cream of tartar is heated and prepared, and then poured into wooden frames, as you can see in the photo below:

When the mixture hardens, it turns white, and then the board can be added to a beehive to provide nourishment for the colony until spring.

All in all, a satisfying project for a Sunday afternoon! :-)

Gorgeous November day!

This was a picture-perfect November day. The sun was shining, the temperatures were in the 60's, and there was a gentle breeze. It's simply delightful to be enjoying this type of wonderful weather in November in northern Wisconsin.



It's a treat!!

It's Here!!!

We're very pleased to say that we've just received the advance copies of our latest book! The Field Guide to Horses (by Daniel Johnson and Samantha Johnson) is scheduled for release in December, and we're really happy with how it turned out. The book contains over 80 breed profiles, and also covers colors, markings, and patterns. There are full-color photographs throughout. You can take a peek inside of the book on Amazon.com

Our Birdbath Runneth Over

There has been so much rain in the recent past that the birdbath in our garden is overflowing. The birds are quite satisfied with the arrangement. :-) We've been seeing large quantities of chickadees and robins.

Countdown to Winter

Things have been busy on the farm. . . busy, busy, busy. For you see, winter is on its way. We are very thankful because it seems to be taking its time in arriving, and we're trying to take advantage of each warm and dry day to finish our pre-winter outdoor chores.

And so today's photo is quite representative of our recent activities: working on fencing. :-)

A visitor. . .

Someone has been visiting us recently, or so we've discovered by the "calling card" that was left for us in the remnants of a mud puddle:

This track, if you look carefully, was made by a Coyote. . . we've been hearing them quite often at night.

Starry Night

"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to live and to work and to play and to look up at the stars."

-Henry Van Dyke

Crisp November Mornings

Well, perhaps "crisp" isn't exactly accurate. . . more like "cold!" :-) But we can't complain---we've had several days of fairly nice weather and very little rain or snow. So we complaineth not and keep proceeding through our list of "to-do's before winter" as quickly we can while the weather holds. :-)

Happy November, everyone!